The endorphin high of recent physical activities has been addicting. It's all I can do to stop from running/walking everyday. I know I have to take it slow.
This year I would like to find the focus and discipline that was missing for most parts of 2008. I have decided I am going to use running as a tool to regain them.
A few years back when I was still working in research, I found that with my efforts to increase efficiency by multitasking I was becoming easily distracted. I was efficient and always met deadlines, but the quality of my work declined as I started to lose attention to details. I could not concentrate on one task for long periods of time.
As a remedy I decided to take up a new hobby. It was something that required me to sit still for about an hour and do only one thing.
I painted stones.
One afternoon I picked smooth and flat stones at the beach near my workplace. I bought poster colors, a brush, a fine-tipped marker and varnish. I started turning the stones into whimsical animal families. I had blue porcupines, spotted toads, "ugly" stonefishes, blue and green groupers, bright red and yellow scaly fishes, furry orange tabby's, bespectacled owls, rainbow-colored snails and tiny ladybugs.
It was wonderful. If I cared enough about the quality of the outcome I had to stay put for an hour and do nothing else but paint. If I allowed myself to be distracted for even a minute the paint would drip, I would forget what details to add with a marker and the varnish would dry. I had the right chill out music playing and for an hour I was calm and focused.
It helped teach me to plan ahead also. If I didn't think things through I would end up waiting for 15 to 20 minutes doing nothing while paint dried on a single stone. It would've been a total waste of time. By planning which stones to paint, what colors to use first and which design to pen in I could work continuously.
Running may be totally different from painting but I think I'm going to get the same results with a happy heart and a healthy body as bonus :)
This year I would like to find the focus and discipline that was missing for most parts of 2008. I have decided I am going to use running as a tool to regain them.
A few years back when I was still working in research, I found that with my efforts to increase efficiency by multitasking I was becoming easily distracted. I was efficient and always met deadlines, but the quality of my work declined as I started to lose attention to details. I could not concentrate on one task for long periods of time.
As a remedy I decided to take up a new hobby. It was something that required me to sit still for about an hour and do only one thing.
I painted stones.
One afternoon I picked smooth and flat stones at the beach near my workplace. I bought poster colors, a brush, a fine-tipped marker and varnish. I started turning the stones into whimsical animal families. I had blue porcupines, spotted toads, "ugly" stonefishes, blue and green groupers, bright red and yellow scaly fishes, furry orange tabby's, bespectacled owls, rainbow-colored snails and tiny ladybugs.
It was wonderful. If I cared enough about the quality of the outcome I had to stay put for an hour and do nothing else but paint. If I allowed myself to be distracted for even a minute the paint would drip, I would forget what details to add with a marker and the varnish would dry. I had the right chill out music playing and for an hour I was calm and focused.
It helped teach me to plan ahead also. If I didn't think things through I would end up waiting for 15 to 20 minutes doing nothing while paint dried on a single stone. It would've been a total waste of time. By planning which stones to paint, what colors to use first and which design to pen in I could work continuously.
Running may be totally different from painting but I think I'm going to get the same results with a happy heart and a healthy body as bonus :)
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