Have you ever sat down to start a topic that is going to be a bit of a challenge to learn, and immediately felt like jumping to something else that is more stimulating? In other words you feel like your energy all of a sudden turned into a 2 year old toddler on a sugar high?
Same here! How how do we handle that? After having watched this.
I started to “Watch” the “Impulses” to jump to something else as if I am a third party observer of the impulse.
And I tell myself before I even start that I’m going to stick with a certain piece of material until I get through it to a point where at a minimum I have a clear understanding of what my questions are and how I plan to go about answering them. Ideally I stay with the topic until it is a “Skill” that I can apply without running up a sweat.
And I’m sure until I get done I’ll have urges to jump to other topics or activities, but I’m not going to act on them. I’m simply going to “Watch” as they pass through and then get back to directing my focus.
While I’m covering the material (Mostly code) I also find it useful to “Air pencil” out, using my fingers, segments of structure or formulas that I’m using as this anchors my energy and gives me a clear focal point. You know how when you see people in stereotypical meditation poses they are pinching their thumb and pointer finger together, applying some energy. The idea is similar.
And if I’m having a tricky time with a particular concept I ask myself “Why is this aspect of the topic challenging?”.
I then go into that on a deeper level becoming more aware through the process of meta cognition or meta learning (Learning about learning). This helps me understand my learning process better and it usually has the side effect of deepening my understanding of a topic.
One of my favorite things about this is that it removes blocking.
In other words as I crystallize something to the point where I could easily demonstrate it on a white board right off the top of my head, space and energy is freed up for a deeper understanding of other material as well.
If you are like me you’ll notice that as this “Meditation process” is going on there are lots of things to keep an eye on. Body twitches, etc. that interrupt the focus flow, and learning to maintain focus while these types of sensations are passing through is a nice super power to have.
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It’s much easier to maintain focus when the body, and especially the gut, is healthy. The below article is my personal journey into giving myself a tune up, and one of the minerals that especially key in maintaing focus is Iodine, and I regularly take a few drops of Lugols Iodine 2% to make sure I have adequate amounts of it in circulation. Vitamin D is also important (Mood, energy, muscle tension, etc). It’s the happy Vitamin.
Gurdjieff played the same game, in a different way. He said, “The most important thing is self-remembering. Always, at every moment, be aware of what you’re doing. Watch yourself, constantly, and never, never be absent-minded.” So, all day, you know, when you pick up (Text sourced from https://www.organism.earth/library/document/out-of-your-mind-10#ch9) the piece of paper, you realize, “I am picking up this piece of paper, and I’m opening it inside,” and so on.
— Alan Watts
