I’m starting a new section where I’ll share articles, books, research, and thoughts related to the science of self-help, along with experiments and random rabbit holes I’ve gone down across the previous month.

This month I’ve been obsessing over the ultimate planning method. Most planning involves setting dates, breaking up tasks, and making a hierarchical to-do list - but the next level incorporates behavioral science.

Tasks involving creativity have been shown to work better when your focus is low or you’re tired. Brian Tracy advises to start with the most difficult task in the morning when you’re presumably the most focused, but if you’re not focused, then you should probably gather momentum with a series of small tasks. It’s hard to know when to use which strategy. Syncing it all up adds a third dimension to the Eisenhower matrix and has proven quite challenging.

I’ve also been mulling over my attempt at forming a habit in a day. There’s another wacky experiment I want to try that might involve taking shots, strapping on ice packs, watching a really good movie, eating nachos, and having a long nap. These factors dilate time and effect identity, learning, and rewards.

I’m looking into course work in data visualization and data science. That’s also got me interested in better design in personal experimentation and the work of Seth Roberts.

What’s New

• Got an assault bike. I used to be an avid cyclist, so stationary bikes don’t usually wear me out. THIS thing, however, is pure torture and can have me on my knees gasping in a few minutes. I’ve suffered some quite annoying injuries lately - a painful ankle injury and a now a weird knee issue - and the bike is a bit better for recuperating.

• I’ve been tweaking my schedule, focusing on break time. Setting a timer for 17 minutes (in one analysis 17 minute breaks were the optimal interval) immediately upon finishing a Pomodoro gets me back at my desk and working for more time during the day, even when I’m not super strict about actually getting back in the allotted time.

• The blog of Illuminatus, Personal Power Meditation, was hacked and went offline. This guy did some of the most amazing stuff at the cutting edge of meditation practice. I’m trying to piece it all back together via the Internet Wayback Machine.

• Got invited on a podcast with a friend. Barnaby and I have talked a lot about meditation and other self improvement subjects over the years. He’s getting his degree in Chinese Traditional Medicine soon and trained in Vajrayana, so he generally has very different perspectives. Fun fact: he’s responsible for forcing me to create the Elements of Change by asking me to collate all my theories. He should be starting his new podcast next month.

• Dr. Jason Wessel contacted me via …well, everything. Dr. Wessel’s app, the Contemplate App, uses targeted reflection to stimulate self control. It’s based on his own research, which I find fascinating in that it rests on YOU telling IT the answers to the possible self-control issues you might be facing. I’m so zoned in on habits as the critical foundation for all long term change that this is incredibly novel to me. He in turn seems quite interested in my Elements of Change. Hopefully we’ll get to speak more on this soon.

Interesting Articles

• A Stoic and AZTEC (!!?) method of building willpower (Medium)

• Why the To-Do list never ends (The Atlantic)

• The science behind “revenge bedtime procrastination (BBC)

• Responding to anxiety with “I wonder?” (Psychology Today)

• The fall of the theory of ego-depletion (Psychology Today). This seems to be a really thorough article, and I really need to go over it with a fine tooth comb, because I have my doubts.

Research

• Research into EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and EFT (“Tapping” or Emotional Freedom Technique)

• An older study on “mind blanking” and what happens to the ego. Particularly interesting with regards to Eastern meditation, ego dissolution, ego death, and enlightenment.

• An older article on how self-control possibly reacts to color.

Experiments and Things I’m Looking Into

• Tested out OMAD (One Meal a Day) this month as part of an ongoing food testing experiment

• Month 2 of applying “Tally Clicking” to the mind. I successfully did this with anxiety, but now am trying to apply it to all negative thoughts, my version of fusing dog training and mindfulness to Stoicism.

• Got a JAMAR medical grade hand dynamometer. Hand dynamometers have been used as a willpower measurer in the past. I’ve been messing around with fusing it with my planning technique in order understand how my day unfolds from a self-control perspective, and when I need to employ different techniques to counter blocks across the day. It’s working remarkably well, though I don’t know how accurate it really is - will have to test if it functionally works just as well as a regular self-check in using a purely subjective 1-10 scale.

Social

• Why I think habits ARE NOT an indication of how much you respect and care for yourself or love ones (though the desire to start them might well be) (Reddit).

• Why I dislike “don’t break the chain” style productivity techniques (Reddit).

• A potential habit equation (Instagram)

Books I’m reading

• Mind Management, Not Time Management by David Kadavy. Kadavy comes to the same conclusion I did when putting together a more robust planning method. You’re just better able to be creative at certain times than others, and a plan that takes advantage of this is more optimal, but also kind’ve difficult to implement.

• Old Age, It’s Cause and Prevention by Sanford Bennett is a “Ye Olde” self help book from 1912. Bennett talks about exercising in bed upon waking to reverse symptoms of aging.

Miscellaneous & Esoteric

• A pill for lucid dreaming

• A drink that helps you wake up early

• Sufi concentration practices

• A continuous glucose monitoring system. The amazing Glucose Goddess does fantastic n=1 experiments on the surprising impacts of food, order, and even timing on blood sugar. As I understood it, such systems were not as available in the States…until now.

If you’ve got any interesting links, books, comments, or suggestions, shoot me an email at scienceofselfhelp (at) gmail.com. I’d love to hear from you!