Why Would I Write

  • Click, Break, Repeat

    Click, Break, Repeat

    I’m a curious guy. I like clicking all the buttons in programs or pushing every button on a computer until I learn about what they do or things break. I enjoy discovering and experiencing new things. I like to try everything before forming an opinion.

    After all, there are some things out there you don’t know you need or enjoy until you’ve tried them. Like drugs.

    So when my company announced a monthly budget for mental health, I figured – hey, why not use it? I had never visited a therapist before and was curious about it. I didn’t think I needed mental help, but also I didn’t know if I didn’t need it.

    With that in mind, I went in with an open mind.

    I entered therapists near me in Google, and a center popped up a few minutes away from home. Sweet! Sent them an email to inquire about the price and process, and received a reply the next day. Gave them my WhatsApp number and I continued the conversation there.

    I had a conversation with the person running the account and booked myself an appointment shortly after. On the day of the appointment, I arrived at the center about five minutes early and was instructed to register myself.

    After that, I entered a room and waited for the therapist.

    She arrived after a few minutes and asked me what’s up? I told her I had this budget to spend, wasn’t sure if I needed therapy, and was giving it a shot. She nodded and asked me what she could help me with. I told her about my work-related problems.

    If you were expecting some tea, sorry to disappoint.

    We spoke for almost an hour, and she was unbiased and remained neutral throughout the whole session. The best part is, that she gave me some actionable advice, which I’ll share below. Hopefully, it can be useful to some of you too.

    Problem: Procrastination/Staying Focused

    • Measure the time you spend procrastinating
    • Once you know how long you’re procrastinating each day, shorten those breaks
    • Each week, try to reduce those unproductive minutes (e.g. 2 hours to 1.5 hours, to 1 hour, to 45 minutes, and so on)
    • Take short breaks every time you lose focus. Leave your desk and walk around, talk to people, then come back later
    • Write down your tasks and if possible, the time it takes to complete them, that will help you allocate your time each day

    Imposter Syndrome:

    • If you feel undeserving of compliments, look for proof of why you think you’re doing a bad job instead of looking for proof that a compliment is insincere

    General Mental Self-Care Tips:

    • Ask yourself how you feel every morning, talk to yourself. Voicing it out can help you understand yourself
    • Have something to look forward to every day. It can be as simple as watching a show or hanging out with a friend. Set a reward for yourself each day

    And that sums up my very first therapy session. Did it change me? Maybe. I did walk away with new knowledge. So what did I think of therapy?

    Therapists only know what you reveal to them. The quality of their advice is going to be based on how much or what you let them know. If you don’t give them anything to work with, they won’t be able to help you much.

    After my first experience, I’ve concluded that it’s not something I would pay so much for but because I get it for ‘free’, I wouldn’t mind going back again. Maybe I’d try other therapists just to see how different it can be.

    For now, I’ll try practicing what the therapist suggested and see if it helps me with my work. I’ll report in a few weeks, hopefully with good news.

    In the meantime, here’s a related song that features the Number 1 Hot New Band, Hot Mulligan. Happy Mental Awareness Week (one month late)!

  • Gig #132: Twenty Eight Music Bar

    Gig #132: Twenty Eight Music Bar

    First gig of October, what? Playing at Twenty Eight again! Loads of new performers this time, so drop by for some beers and cool tunes.

    Google Maps | Instagram | 9 October | 8 PM

  • Out of Sight, Out of Mind

    Out of Sight, Out of Mind

    About a year ago, I disabled most Facebook notifications on my phone. I wouldn’t be notified unless they were activities directly involving me, like tags or comment replies. This meant I received almost no notifications from Facebook and opened the app less.

    After a few months of reduced Facebook usage, I decided it didn’t need a spot on my home screen and removed it. And now, I don’t even think about Facebook when I’m using my phone anymore. I think I cut down my Facebook usage by like 99%.

    Earlier this year, I was looking around for a new Android launcher and a post on Reddit caught my attention. It was a launcher called Niagara and it promised a new way to use my phone while allowing me to maintain my minimalist setup. Since there was a free version, I gave it a shot.

    Setting it up was easy, all I had to do was pin my favorite apps. They recommend a max of 8 apps so you can access all of them without scrolling, but there’s no limit to how long you want the list to be. After that, you’re good to go.

    Initially, it felt weird to be using my phone with so few apps available to access from the home screen. I felt restricted. I was constantly adjusting my pinned apps list to show the apps that were essential to me. However, since I loved the launcher’s aesthetics, I continued using it. After a couple of days, I learned to embrace this self-imposed limitation.

    Because I only had access to essential apps on my favorite list, this meant I didn’t have any time-wasting apps on my home screen. The added friction of having to scroll through a list to find an app was good enough to deter me. Consequently, I stopped wasting so much time on my phone.

    A couple of months ago, Reddit killed third-party apps and one of the casualties was Reddit is fun, an app I had been using for over a decade. I chose not to download the official app (because it’s trash) and continued to browse Reddit using old.reddit.com. It was no RIF, but still better than the official experience.

    Since accessing Reddit now meant opening the browser and then loading up the site, this added friction caused a significant reduction in my Redditing habit. Over time, I stopped browsing Reddit on my phone and my toilet breaks have become 90% shorter. I guess I can thank Reddit for a healthier anus now.

    Now for entertainment during a meal, I read an ebook instead (yay). Also, it just occurred to me that using the phone in the toilet and then taking it out during a meal doesn’t seem the most hygienic of activities 🤔

    But like all good things, there’s always something to balance it out. As a result of having more time to do other things on my phone, I find myself reaching for it just to play a quick game of Six Match more frequently than before.

    To be honest, I don’t even know why I play it – the game isn’t getting updated, I’m not getting higher scores, and there is no benefit to playing it other than to give me something to swipe while waiting for something else to happen.

    After writing this paragraph, I decided to delete Six Match (again). But in the back of my mind, I know I’ll find some other way to waste time in the future. It’s my forte.

    Am I recommending you clean up your phone? No, but if you find yourself addicted to your phone and it’s affecting you negatively, it’s something you could consider. The superior option is to improve your self-control.

    By the way, there’s no need to use a fancy launcher to do what I did – you can simply remove things from your home screen manually, or put them into folders. How you do it isn’t important, as long as you achieve the intended result. However, Niagara does look sweet.

    I guess this concludes my Android phone check-in. Who knows what it’ll look like in another few years?

    2015

    2023