Daily Trixie

Three apps/features/tools I’m using the most throughout the day lately that help me get started, stay focused, and push through resistance:

*Forest app: especially with their new daily focus challenges that really brought me back into using it and sticking with it and planting more trees throughout the day

*visual timer(s): sometimes two at a time, even. In conjunction with the tree planting on Forest, I’m staying on task better (& making clearer decisions about what I intend to do). I love their tangibility and simplicity.

*Fitbit’s Cardio Load feature: the assessments, tracking, advice it gives me daily, and variability based on what I’ve actually been doing has helped me lately more than step goals (though the hourly get up and move reminders and small hourly goal is also a big manageable motivator for me). I find it really rewarding and feel really good about myself when I exceed my target, and really feel a huge burden lifted when it frequently sets my target very low because “you’ve really been pushing yourself lately”. It makes it clearer to me when I need recovery time and rest, and takes the second-guessing out when I actually decide to do just that.

When I miss out on real solitary odd days, I accrue debts that need to be paid, one way or another.

I wonder if you can put time into a solitude 401k the way you can with sleep? That might work, too, or help a little when I know I’m going to be in for peopled immersion on odd days / too many days in a row. There’s definitely a limit, though, to how much you can sock away in advance.

Regardless, it’s costly. And the only way to really be able to count on myself to take care of it is to have more money, and less debt. Otherwise it’s expensive and stressful for everyone I’m close too, particularly my wife.