When we say, pay attention,
what exactly are we supposed to be paying attention with? Author, Oliver Berkman put it this way. At the end of your life, looking
back, whatever compelled your attention from moment to moment is
simply what your life will have been. So when you pay attention to
something you don't especially value, it's not an exaggeration to say
that you're paying with your life. Our attention is our
most valuable resource. And for everything that we pay
attention to there's a hidden, yet significant tax that we pay. In this video, I will reveal this hidden
tax and introduce a technique that'll help you protect your attention and
help you stay focused all day long. Let's dive in. It all begins by paying attention
to what we're paying attention to. And the simple way to do this
is by writing things down. Now you can do this digitally,
but I prefer to do it in my paper notebook because it shields
me from online distractions. Writing things down helps us declutter
our mind and see our thoughts clearly when they're captured on paper. It can also be a powerful way to become
aware of and process our emotions. I name my thoughts and feelings through
a technique called rapid logging. If you want to learn more about rapid
logging, we'll include some links below. In short, rapid logging combines
the structure of a bulleted list with the flexibility of a journal. It makes it very simple to capture
and organize not only things that you have to do, but also your thoughts and
feelings in general with minimal effort. The question I often get is
when exactly does one rapid log? My answer used to be
whenever it feels right. Write things down whenever you want to. And though this approach can work
really well in general, that answer also felt kind of incomplete. This total flexibility sometimes
resulted in gaps in my daily logs, especially when I'm busy. And the more gaps I have in my record
the less helpful my records become. It wasn't until I was introduced
to another technique by the brilliant Anne-Laure Le Cunff. Link below. That I finally found the missing piece. Interstitial journaling. Interstitial journaling was
introduced by Tony Stubblebein. His idea was familiar: rather than
tracking your work with a to-do list, why not track it with a journal? His solution is different from
rapid logging however, and it compliments it beautifully. The term interstitial comes from the
word interstice, which means a small gap. So journaling in a small gap. What gap? The gap, where a lot of our attention
goes missing the gap between actions. Remember that hidden tax that I
mentioned earlier, this is it. Our attention doesn't
function like a switch. Instead, every time we switch context
from one thing to another, some of our attention remains with the last thing. And the more we switch context, the less attention we
bring to whatever is next. The less attention we have, the more
distracted and distractable we become. Studies have shown a dramatic impact
context switching has not only on the quality of our attention
but with the quality of our life. Think about it. The less attention we have
the less present we are. The more mistakes we make,
the more overwhelmed, stressed and anxious we become. Interstitial journaling can minimize the
impact of context switching by introducing a small protocol rather than randomly
journaling or waiting until the end of the day interstitial journaling, encourages
us to write down the following every time we complete what we're doing, take a break
or have to move on to whatever's next. In short, every time we
have to switch context. One write down the time. Two. Write down a few thoughts
about what you just worked on. And three, write down a few thoughts
about what you have to work on next. That's it that's really
all there is to it. Now I tried this a few years ago,
and though it was somewhat helpful. I forgot about it. It wasn't until I recently paired the
protocol of interstitial journaling with the syntax and intention of rapid logging,
that it transformed the way that I keep myself composed throughout the day. Now, let me show you how I
combine these two techniques into what I call daily logging. It all comes together in my daily log. First I add today's date, then I'll
review the past few days and see if anything needs to get done today. If so I'll add that action to
my list, followed by anything else I need to do today. Then I will prioritize these tasks
with my daily action plan in place. Now I can start daily logging. So the last thing I did was go for
a run and then meditate in the park. I had to cut that meditation short
because I was running out of time. And I felt stressed because
of the time pressure. So, one thing I can do about that
is set alarm for 7:00 AM so I can relieve some of that stress tomorrow. Now I look for the top priority
from the list above and get to work. That we'll just add the number,
so I don't have to rewrite it. I'm lazy like that. Now, once I'm done I'll go through my list
above cross things off at a timestamp, cross this item off and quickly rapid log. Any thoughts that I had about this last task action or event along with
any other things that are top of mind. Once I'm all caught up. I can slow down and think
about what really matters now. Despite having a carefully crafted
action plan at the beginning of the day, something often comes up throughout
the day that feels more urgent. If I'm not careful. I can react spending much of my time
trying to put out little fires while my action plan goes up in flames. This is how we can enter
a reactive hamster wheel. Putting out fire after fire,
after fire, after fire. By introducing daily
logging into my practice. I regularly pause step back
and collect my thoughts before choosing what to work on next. This has proven tremendously helpful
in preventing me from switching on my productivity autopilot and
stepping right back on that hamster wheel, where I keep on putting
out fire after fire, after fire. The trick here is not to list the
next five things that I have to do, but rather just write down the one
small action that matters most now. The only exception is if it
doesn't feel that small, if this action is kind of pretty heavy. So I'll take this opportunity to break
that apart into sub tasks, to make sure that I'm making consistent progress. One study suggested that it
can take up to 23 minutes to refocus when we're interrupted. Now think about how many times you
intentionally interrupt yourself throughout the day, simply to
work on other things to move on. Daily logging makes this transition
easier in three meaningful ways. instead of relying on your
memory, you can quickly offload thoughts and ideas as you work. So they don't keep distracting you. Then when you're ready to shift
context, you can offload your thoughts about this last thing that you worked
on while it's still top of mind. This not only frees up mental resources
to better focus on whatever's next. It also creates the conditions
for Hemingway effect. Legend has it that author Ernest Hemingway
would intentionally finish his day of writing in the middle of an idea. It was a strategy that allowed
him to quickly pick up wherever he left off the next day. Similarly, rapid logging, just a few
notes at the end of an action can help us quickly reenter that Headspace. Should we need to revisit it later .
My favorite feature about daily logging
is its ability to keep me present. Now, if that term seems
woo I assure you it's not. Being present can be the most productive
thing we can do, the most powerful state we can cultivate because the only time
we have to build to change to apologize to love or begin is only always now. The problem is that now
is rarely a good time. It's easy to be present in controlled
conditions like meditation, a yoga class, a walk in the park a nook at our favorite coffee shop. And though it's important to carve out
these times and spaces for ourselves most of our lives are lived outside of them. It can be really hard to remain
present when life demonstrates over and over again, how little
it cares about our plans. Daily logging can help us remain
anchored throughout the day by providing a lightweight ritual to
help us track not only what we're doing, but also how we're doing. How we're showing up in that moment. Every time I switch context, I have a
chance to slow down, take a breather and briefly check in with myself and write
down what I'm thinking and feeling. It only takes a few moments, but
that pause can be a powerful way to clear my mind and refocus. Every gap becomes an invitation to
return to the present for a moment and switch off that autopilot. And make sure that I'm paying attention
to what actually matters right now. Though our attention may be a resource. Paying attention is
both a skill and an art. As a skill it's about training
our ability to remain focused. As an art it's about developing a
sense of things worth focusing on. The only way to cultivate both begins
by regularly slowing down to pay attention to our lived experience. To quote John Dewey we do not
learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience. With daily logging we now have a
simple way of reflecting on our experience to help us discover
what's worth paying attention to. That's all for now. If you found this video helpful,
please be sure to like this video. If you loved it, consider subscribing
to our channel it really helps us out. If you want to learn more about rapid
logging or bullet journaling, please be sure to check out our course
on bullet journal.com or subscribe to our newsletter, links below. Thank you for your time. Happy bullet journaling, and
I'll see you the next one.
