Passive

I can't sleep!
OK, today's the day: we've dedicated a whole week to crafting the ultimate pre-sleep routine.  We've got all the elements we need to get to sleep faster and stay asleep longer.  However, we actually haven't talked about the most critical step of all: falling asleep.  Our routine prepares us to sleep, but what do we do in that final, critical moment when it's just us and our thoughts?  Well, we actually want to do nothing at all; but that can sometimes be very hard.

Previously on The Happy Homunculus, we tried a series of relaxation challenges during the Week of Relaxation.  On the second day, we went through the exercise of being as "Passive" as possible.  In that post, I argued that the last thing we should try to do when we're trying to relax is to, well, try at all. Phew.  Trying is the most counter-productive thing we can do during relaxation.  Similarly, trying to sleep is a contradiction - trying requires energy, effort and focus.  To sleep, we must let go.

So, today, let's revisit the Passive challenge and apply that mindset in the minutes leading up to sleep.

Passive

Task: Lie passively in bed in the moments leading up to sleep.

Info: Close your eyes and let go. Thoughts will come in and out of your mind - this is fine! But, whenever you find yourself wandering, gently return to a more passive state. The key is to not try but to let go.  If your problem is too much thinking, gently label the process "thinking" and move slowly to observing your breathing or the smoothness of the sheets.  Be mindful of your surroundings as an alternative to thought.  If thoughts keep creeping in, be patient and continue to return to a more passive state.  Finally, if you start to get frustrated with your lack of sleepiness, get up and start your bedtime routine again.  Return to bed when you feel sleepy again.

Goal: Maximize the feeling of passivity.

I find that practicing mindfulness meditations help me develop the state of mind needed to let go.  Check out these great guided meditations from UCLA's Mindfulness Education Program for some tips on how to approach passivity.  Good luck!

Further Reading
- Who needs The Happy Homunculus when we have Yahoo Answers' guide to sleep?
- Listen to the Mayo Clinic: Don't try too hard!
- It's not just me: other people think thinking is over-rated.
- Finally, thinking: bad for sleep and feeling good!

Low Flow

Not a care in the world.
Welcome back to the Week of Sleep...  So far, we've compiled three night-time rituals in an attempt to construct the ultimate sleep-promoting night-time routine.  KAPOW!  To review, we selected a bed time, turned down the lights, and had a snack.  Today, we're going to distract ourselves from all the stress of the day, because nothing kills a good night sleep like an unhappy homunculus.

My main sleep-time woe is a wandering mind.  I'm always thinking about what happened during the day, or what's going to happen tomorrow.  On the one hand, it's good to plan and craft strategy, but why do I always seem to do that when I'm trying to sleep?!  There's nothing that pisses off the Sandman more than some anxiety.

Maybe a state of worry is just the default: when my mind is not occupied with some task, it starts to wander.  If so, we may have to get our attention on something productive to avoid needless worry.  We've covered Flow before here at The Happy Homunuclus, so regular readers should know that getting in the zone is a great way to get into a good mood.  The same strategy can be used pre-sleep: let's get into a flow state to get our mind off all the crap we're dealing with.  However, we want the flow activity we choose to be a low energy one - we don't want to get energized right before sleeping do we?

Low Flow

Task: Complete a low energy flow activity in the 30mins prior to sleep.

Info: What to do? Well, reading is always a good idea - especially if it's a fun, fiction book. But, reading isn't the only option.  You could listen to some chilled out tunes, or knit if that's your thing.  You could do some easy crossword puzzles of sudoku.  You could flip through some pleasant photos or sketch.  Choose something that is just barely engaging, but far from stressful.  You want your mind off your worries, not frustrated by some new challenge right before bed.  Choose wisely!  The one thing I wouldn't do?  Watch TV.

Goal: Increase sleepiness with your flow activity.

More sleep tidbits:
http://inoveryourhead.net/images/sleep-is-awesome.png
http://forecast.diabetes.org/magazine/features/the-role-sleep-type-2-diabetes

Bedtime Snack

Food and sleep: I like them both.  My homunculus likes them both.  But, you know what's even better than food and sleep?  Food and sleep at the same time!  There's really nothing like a tasty treat followed by a warm, fuzzy nap, don't you think?  Yet, food and sleep aren't just two, separate pleasures that just happen to go well together.  Oh no, our circadian and gustatory rhythms are intimately related.

Dim

My homunculus is getting sleepy.
Long, long ago, back when our ancestors roamed various grassy lands, things were very different.  We hunted, we gathered, and we didn't have light-bulbs.  No flashlights, no paper lanterns, no halogen desk lamps, no LED keychains. And, if you go back far enough, our ancestors didn't have access to fire either.  So, guess what happened when the sun went down? It got dark.

Modern society is pushing our bodies and brains into new territory.  We have easy access to too many calories, we lead sedentary lifestyles, and we have the ability to create light at will.  For our monkey-like ancestors, light was available when the sun was up, and our circadian rhythms used this powerful, daily cue to determine when to make us sleep and when to get us up.  But, when the sun never sets (just switch on a light), how does our brain know what's up?  It doesn't.

Because of our biology, we need to avoid light when we're trying to sleep.  In addition, in the time preceding sleep, we need to reduce the amount of light in order to signal to our brain that it's sleepy-time.

Dim

Task: Reduce ambient light in your home in the hour preceding your Bed Time.

Info: The less light the better.  The longer you can be in low light prior to sleep, the better. Reduce lights to a minimum.  Also, the dimmer the lights you must use, the better.  Even if you only have one light on, if it's super-bright and right in your face, that's no good.  You want to really set the mood for relaxation and slumber.  Pare down to a few, dim, warm lights and start getting sleepy.  Also, I hate to burst your bubble, but that screen of light you stare at every night before bed (your TV)? Yeah, turn that off.

Goal: Maximize length and extent of low-light conditions prior to sleep.

Beyond just light, in general, the science seems to suggest that blue light in particular seems to be a nasty sleep-killer.  Unfortunately, blue light is a major component of the light pouring out of our TVs and computer-screens.  In fact, the software F.lux can control the amount of blue light produced by your computer, so I recommend you check it out if you must be on your computer late at night.

Additional Resources:
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/news/20110119/light-exposure-may-cut-production-of-melatonin
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-light-affects-our-sleep/
http://stereopsis.com/flux/
http://ajpregu.physiology.org/content/290/5/R1421.abstract

Bed Time

Hi there, sleepy-head!  Are you all pumped up to get some sleep?  I know it's crazy to get hyped about sleeping, but I can't help it.  My homunculus loves to zonk out.  So, during this Week of Sleep, we're going to pull out all the stops in order to hack our sleep to a whole new level.

Week of Calm

According to Google Image Search,
this is a "Calm Monkey"
Emotions are cool, right?  I mean, they make us feel all weird, sometimes good, sometimes bad.   Occasionally, they come out of nowhere.  They make our bodies do strange stuff: flush, feel tight, feel warm, put butterflies places.  Those are all incredible experiences.  However, that doesn't mean we need to let everyone else in the world know how we're feeling right?

Hence, The Happy Homunculus has sponsored a Week of Calm.  A whole week dedicated to regulating our adult temper-tantrums.  It was a trip!  If you missed out, here it is again:

Week of Calm

Day 1: Feeling - Strange vibrations.
Day 2: Commute of Calm - Drive happy.
Day 3: Cool Off - Get out of there.
Day 4: Poker Face - No tells.
Day 5: Turn the Other Cheek - Empathy, big time.
Day 6: Off the Brakes - Let it out.

Next week, The Happy Homunculus is going to be all about my second favorite thing in the world: sleeping.  I'm going to cobble together a bunch of Daily Mind Games that are going to be soporific to the extreme.  Metacognitive control isn't just about analyzing our own thinking, it's about giving our brain what it needs and craves.  Like some rest.  And I need some rest.

Until then, why not check out the following fun links for some extra credit.  I'd like to make it a weekly habit to share the recent articles that make Homunky the happiest...

Homunky's Hot Hits:

First off, it's always good to get a refresher on what metacognition is all about.  And if that wasn't enough, check out this article for more.

Next up, here is a recent article from the prolific Jonah Leher about making decisions.  It reminded me that it's not always smart to over-think things!  Hungry for more decision-making research?  Here's another article discussing the relative value of emotions and intentional thinking when making decisions. Cool!

Finally, here's a recent piece about memory that reminds me a lot of our discussions during the Week of Memory.  Some good tips there for making concepts stick.

Off the Brakes

Let it out.
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Week of Calm is coming to an end.  Hopefully y'all had fun playing with your emotional awareness and control.  I know I did, but my homunculus?  Not so much.  Like the rambunctious monkey he is, he's all tuckered out from being forced to sit quietly and patiently while I take care of business.  However, a tame homunculus is not always a good thing.  Sometimes you have the let the monkey out of the cage.

Emotional control comes in two flavors.  On the one hand, we don't want uncontrolled outbursts to undermine important relationships.  On the other, exposing emotions to others is an important form of communication.  In many cases, showing some emotion is the only way to communicate the importance of something.

In any case, the name of the game is to modulate the intensity of our emotions.  Really intense emotional outbursts are rarely an effective way to communicate.  Instead, talking calmly about emotions with some small outward signs is the best way to go.  That's today's DMG:

Off the Brakes

Task: Communicate your emotions to someone else.

Info: It's ok to get emotional.  It's ok to let others see our emotions.  We don't need to feel like we can't have emotions; that's impossible.  But, we will be better off if we don't go ballistic.  Today, when you have some emotion and when you think communicating that emotion is important, let off the brakes and talk about your emotions.  The goal is to do it in a calm, measured way so you don't freak out the other party.

Goal: Remain calm while talking about your emotions.

Turn the Other Cheek

Can't you read the sign?!
I don't know about you, but I'm feeling totally zen monk today: I am regulating my emotions like a champion.  A metacognitive champion.  If you've been following along this week, hopefully you feel the same.  Let's review: we've tracked our emotions, made it to work without flipping out, escaped a bad situation, and kept our cards close to the vest.  That's right, we know how to control our emotions.  But, guess what?  Other people suck at it.

Time to empathize.  Just because we are awesome and amazing self-regulators doesn't mean the rest of the world is, right?  Metacognition doesn't exactly seem to be the most popular twitter hash-tag (I've checked).  So, we shouldn't expect the rest of the world to be zen monks like us.

That means that you may come in contact with someone flippin' his lid.  He may scream, cry, brood, or rock back and forth.  Whatever it is, just realize that emotional regulation is difficult.  Because life is difficult. And, if a person doesn't think he has to, needs to, or can control his emotions, he won't.

Turn the Other Cheek

Task: Maintain calm while someone else loses emotional control.

Info: Why should the emotions of someone else modify our emotions?  They are thoughts in someone else's mind - they aren't "real".  Even if that person starts showing their emotions big-time, there is no reason we need to escalate our own.  Instead, let's adopt an empathetic stance: "this person is having a hard time, and I am going to let them take it out on me, because that's what they need right now."  Controlling a natural tendency to "retaliate" may take some effort, but it's worth it.  There's nothing dumber than yelling at someone to stop yelling.  Except maybe yelling at someone to relax... or sleep.

Goal:  Find fulfillment being a rock for someone else.

If you've been paying close attention, this DMG is very close to the Week of Empathy's "Dependent".  Today's game looks at the same challenge of helping someone cope from the perspective of self-regulation of emotion.  However, using a desire to empathize can be a handy mental trick for making self-control easier.

How is the Week of Calm going for you?  If you've been enjoying these challenges, please consider sharing The Happy Homunculus with your friends... Thanks!

Poker Face

Don't let 'em know what you're thinkin'.
My homunculus is powerful: he lives in my mind, is composed of only thoughts, but yet he wields massive control over my behavior.  Sometimes, he makes me not work.  Sometimes, he makes me not exercise.  Sometimes, he makes me yell at people.  These are significant behaviors.  So, if my homunculus can exert power over very important, far-reaching behaviors, certainly he can control something simple, like my facial expression.

I've been arguing this week that emotions cannot be controlled.  Over time, with practice, we can change how our minds react to events, but in the heat of the moment we really don't have too much control over how we feel.  After an emotion creeps in, though, we can decide how we will react to the emotion.

For me, the very first thing that happens when an emotion creeps in is my facial expression changes.  I'm very expressive in that way.  However, many times I realize that allowing the initial, reactionary facial expression to creep in can be deterimental: I don't want people to know what I'm thinking all the time.  Especially if someone says something I don't agree with, by showing a negative facial expression, it may put the person on the defensive and make it difficult for me to be able to influence the interaction in a positive way.

So, for today's Daily Mind Game, let's practice controlling our facial expressions.  Specifically, let's focus on curbing the impulsive frown that accompanies most negative emotions.  By preventing the sour-puss face, we will make other people feel better, even during difficult interactions.  In addition, I've found that doing this makes me feel better!  By not looking angry, I actually become less angry.  You may have heard of the inverse effect happening for smiling: simply smiling can improve mood.

Poker Face

Task: Prevent negative facial expressions.

Info: The goal is to not "show your hand" emotionally.  Even if someone gives you crappy news, don't immediately show your emotions with a negative facial expression.  Keep your cool, and maintain a slightly bemused look (or some other expression that you prefer).  You don't want to look like you are forcing a smile, because that could be just as bad.  Instead, focus on a natural, neutral, but slightly positive facial expression.  Maintain it for the duration of a negative interaction.  The purpose of this is to practice control of our outward display of emotion.  With practice, you'll become better at deciding when and how to communicate your feelings on an issue.

Goal: Allow positive emotions to shine through; use a poker face to hide negative reactions.

Post your thoughts, feelings, and experiences with the DMG in the comments!

Cool Off

Chill out.
Anger happens.  Bad things happen, irritating things happen, mean people happen, stupid people happen.  And, when those things happen, getting angry is a normal, natural response.  In order to not allow a negative emotion to cause havoc we must decide how to react when the emotion creeps in.  We may not be able to control when we experience an emotion, but we can control what we do next.

This approach to anger management is not to prevent anger.  Instead, we can get angry whenever we want.  But there are healthy ways to handle the emotion of anger and there are unhealthy ways.  An unhealthy way would be to show that anger to people that would think negatively of your anger.  Exposing anger to a boss, a significant other, a colleague, normally doesn't accomplish anything.  In the cases when showing anger is impossible, one strategy is to hold the anger in until we can get to a safe spot to be angry alone.

That's what cooling off is all about.  When something bad happens that makes you angry or frustrated, leave the situation as soon as possible to be alone and let the anger work itself out of your system.  Once you've cooled off, you'll be ready to interact with the offending person in a more effective and productive way.

Cool Off

Task: Escape a situation that provokes anger without displaying anger.

Info: Just get out of there ASAP: head to your meditation spot, head to a bathroom stall, head outside for a walk.  Don't reveal to others just how angry you are until you've had some time to cool off and consider the situation with a level head.  Then, feel free to communicate any remaining issues with the people who caused the problem in a more constructive way.  This isn't about holding emotion in, it's about allowing emotion to fade before addressing the problem.

Goal: Temper your temper with some time alone.

What do you think?  Is this a good way to manage anger?  Are you in the "don't hold it in" camp?

Commute of Calm

Cut me off, I dare you.

I'm a pretty nice guy.  I'm not outwardly mean, usually (except when I don't get my beauty sleep).  I normally empathize well and try to be there to support people.  I work hard to be a good team-member, to make things fun, and be professional.  Except when I'm driving.  When I get into a car, I turn into a total monkey's-arse.  I swear, I honk, I tail-gate, I glance menacingly.  I become a baboon.  But not today!

Road rage.  It happens to almost everyone who drives regularly.  I wonder why it's so easy?  I bet it's because we feel insulated from other people.  We're in our metal box, all closed-up and protected.  We can do whatever we want: yell, curse, sing, cry, whatevs.  No one can hear us or see us.  Awesome!

The problem is that every time we let our negative emotions out, we're missing an opportunity to practice emotion regulation.  Yes, the person in front of us is driving too slow.  But, by yelling and tail-gating, we're unlikely to make any difference.  More than anything, we'll raise our own blood pressure and get better at becoming impulsive and angry.

Today, the goal is to regulate the negative aspects of our commute and try to maintain calm during the drive. Again, preventing emotions isn't the goal.  We're going to simply not act on the emotions (don't yell, honk, etc.)  In addition, let's do our best to distract ourselves from the other commuters that make us mad: listen to the radio, think about pleasant stuff, etc.

Commute of Calm

Task: Maintain calm during today's commute.

Info: Two things to do today.  One, if you do get mad, don't act on it.  Control your own behavior.  Just remember: the other drivers can't see you well - they have no idea that you're yelling at them.  So, don't do it!  It's dumb!  You're basically talking to yourself...  Second, distract yourself so that irritation don't have first dibs on your attention.  Listen to music, a book on tape, NPR, your own breathing. Don't focus on the boat-like Olds in front of you going 15 in a 35mph zone.  Don't.

Goal: Make your commute pleasant.

Isn't emotion regulation fun?  Share the love with the buttons at the top of the page!  Thanks :)

Feeling

I don't know why, but I'm pissed.
Homunculus-owners: welcome to the Week of Calm.  This week, it's all about emotion regulation.  Or, putting the kabosh on emotional outbursts that mess up stuff for us.  Basically, we're going to avoid having adult temper-tantrums this week.  Don't be a baby.

In many ways, actually controlling emotions is hard.  They bubble up almost automatically.  Often, they occur without us even knowing it!  I don't think I'm alone when I say that sometimes I don't even know why I feel a certain way.  Ewww.

So, feeling emotions at any given time may or may not be totally in our control.  Emotions are a summation of a lifetime of dealing with stuff in certain ways, our explanatory style, etc.  It is difficult, if not impossible to control emotions in the heat of the moment.  However, we can more easily control how we behave when we experience an emotion.  In other words, we don't have to let the whole world know when we're pissed off.

But first, we have to be aware of emotions.  In that spirit, today we are going to practice some self-awareness of our own emotions.  The DMG "Feeling" has come up before in the Week of Self-Awareness, and we should revisit it again now.

Feeling

Task: Be mindful of physical sensations that accompany emotions.

Info: As before, I am defining "feeling" for this challenge as any physical sensation that accompanies an emotion.  This can include things like anger, anxiety, pumped-uppedness, sadness, happiness, boredom, etc.  How do these mental states feel?  Don't describe them to yourself in words, fully experience the physical sensations that define the feelings.  For difficult feelings, remember that it's "just" a feeling.  Your life isn't really any different because you are experiencing that sensation.  So, get curious about the feeling and try to enjoy each and every sensation (even tough ones).  Finally, no need to obsess over this, just go about your day and take note of new sensations as they grab your attention.

Goal: Enjoy observing your feelings, including difficult sensations.


This is the second time "Feeling" has come up on The Happy Homunculus.  How did it go this time?  Do you feel more calm now when you observe difficult emotions?  Post your thoughts in the comments!

Sixty Days of Cognitive Fitness

Thanks for stopping by!  Please considering subscribing to The Happy Homunculus by RSSemail, or twitter to get all my latest musings on metacognition.
Normally, when I hear "mental fitness" I think word-puzzles, sudoku, and sequences of numbers. Basically, I think about the SAT and my homunculus gets a little queasy.

Homunky loves metacognition!
However, life is more complicated than word games. I have to motivate myself, interact with people, process new information, and stay calm enough so my friends and family don't disown me.  Instead, I need skills for dealing with life: mental toughness, optimism, self-awareness, self-control, people-skills and more. I need some metacognition up in here.

Week of Memory

Let us join virtual hands and remember The Week of Memory.  We have explored the most powerful and proven memory tricks; now, nothing can stop us from remembering anything that comes our way.  Names? Nothing.  Complex systems?  Done.  Lists of random stuff?  Of course.  Whole textbooks? BRING IT ON.

Wait, actually I can't remember what we went over this week...  You too?  That's cool.  Here it is again:

Week of Memory

Day 1: Childhood Home - A palace of memories.
Day 2: Lewd, Crude, and Rude - Because boring isn't memorable.
Day 3: Name Game - Time to rhyme.
Day 4: Mental Model - Details are good.
Day 5: Pretty Pictures - Worth a whole lot of words.
Day 6: Smell, Taste, Feel, and Sound - Close your eyes.

Ah, that jogs the ol' memory!  What a great week.  I'm very excited to continue to apply these memory tricks in the weeks to come.  Hopefully I'll remember to do so...

As for next week, I'm thinking it might be fun to play around with our emotions a bit.  Specifically, I want to see what sort of control we can exert on how we feel and, more importantly, how we react to how we feel.

Oh, noble Monkey of Calm: what is your secret?
I think all of us can relate to the experience of letting our emotions get the best of us.  We blow-up in anger at a loved one and say things we regret.  We get upset at a colleague and let it impede our ability to work in a team.  We feel sad about some event and let that sadness seep into other areas, preventing engagement.  In all of these examples, we would be much better off if we could only reign in our emotions a bit.

So, in honor of emotional regulation, next week will be the "Week of Calm".  We'll try some fun Daily Mind Games that will test our ability to maintain a cool head no matter what happens.  Personally, this is one of the main cognitive skills I wish I was better at, so I'm really looking forward to the week.

Smell, Taste, Feel, and Sound

Don't forget!
Today marks the final Daily Mind Game for the Week of Memory.  But let's not forget all the cool ways to carve new memories into our brains.  So far, we've discussed the value of spatial context in creating memorability.  We also talked about crafting faux novelty to make dull concepts interesting.  Next, we used linguistic hooks to embed names into consciousness. Finally, we constructed detailed mental models and looked at pictures (instead of reading) to play to our brains' natural talents.  Today, we're going to move beyond the visual and linguistic world and incorporate the other senses into our quest for iron memories.

When we were first constructing our childhood home/memory palace, I encouraged us to fold in details beyond the visual in order to enhance the memorability of the scene.  Textures, smells, sounds and more are all useful in maximizing the detail and giving our brain more links back to new memories.  But, that was just a side note.  Today, we're going to attack these "other" senses head-on to really push our mnemonic ninja-skillz to the next level.

Think for a moment: do you have a memory of eating or drinking something that didn't agree with you?  Perhaps you became sick...  How does the thought of the offending dish make you feel today?  Personally, I have a very bad feeling about Applebee's to this day because of a bad interaction with a Linguine dish :(  These food-aversions are a particularly salient example showing just how memorable feelings, smells, tastes, and more can be.  When we get sick, all of the details pile up to create one of the strongest memories possible.

Smell, Taste, Feel, and Sound

Task: Improve memorability of a new concept by associating non-visual details.

Info: Today, when you run into a new concept to learn, combine previous tricks with additional no-visual details.  Imagine each component of the process having some feel, texture, smell and sound.  Let's say I'm trying to memorize details about molecular and cellular biology.  Perhaps I could imagine the cell and interacting with each component.  The cell wall might feel and smell like butter.  The cytoplasm could feel and smell like salt water.  Other organelles might make weird sounds when they engage in various functions.  Again, the point of all this is construct a detailed world for a new concept.  The more details, the more likely a single concept will get embedded in the structure of our minds.

Goal: Use all five senses in creating a mental model of a new concept.

Imagining smells, sounds and textures can be difficult but, like anything, gets easier with practice.  Give it a try - these senses can be very powerful mnemonic cues!  Good luck.

Pretty Pictures

Monkey fools Ninja.
The Week of Memory is in full-swing and hopefully you're getting some useful tips for making ideas stick.  So far, we've exploited the memory palace concept, introduced novelty, linked linguistically, and added detail, all in the hope of creating vivid, memorable memories.  Today, we're going to live the phrase: "A picture is worth a thousand words."  Let's look at some pictures, shall we?

When I was in college, and the professor assigned some reading, you know what I would do?  I'd read.  I'd read all the words I could.  At some point, I would decide: "I don't like all this reading, it's hard." And, then I would watch TV.

Looking back, I wish I had been there to save myself from myself.  I wish I could have read my own blog for the robot-crushing tip I'm about to reveal.  When we have something to "read" we shouldn't read at all.  We should look at the pictures instead.

This whole week, we've discussed the power of visual imagery in promoting strong memories.  So many textbooks, journal articles, technical books, and more have a ton of images.  Is it just me, or are the pictures the last thing we look at?  I don't know why, but it felt like "cheating" to not read and just look at the pictures, but that's just dumb.  The pictures are the quickest, easiest, and most memorable way to learn new material.  Look at the pictures first!  I've found that often, the pictures provide 90% of the useful information and can be absorbed in a fraction of the time as text.

Pretty Pictures

Task: Scan all the pictures first in a technical document that you need to learn.

Info: Articles normally have charts and graphs, magazines normally have diagrams, books normally have tables.  Before doing all the hard work of actually reading something, take five minutes and just look at the pictures.  Maybe you won't understand all of what's going on without reading, but you'll be getting a quick snapshot of all the relevant info in a series of easy-to-remember images.  Then, when you do read, the information will have a detailed mental framework to be placed into.  Easy!

Goal: Gauge what percentage of the important information is in the pictures.

Hopefully The Happy Homunculus is giving you all the metacognition that you need.  If so, take a minute to show your support.  Thanks!

Mental Model

You will never forget The Happy Homunculus!
If you've been following along so far this week, hopefully I've convinced you that almost anything can be made more memorable by creating a vivid visual image complete with novelty.  But, perhaps you're skeptical that these techniques would work in a "real world" situation.  They just seem to be so much work!  Everything to be remembered now needs to go in a spot in a memory palace and rhyme with some bodily function?  Untenable.

Perhaps.  But embedded  in these techniques of memory are more general mnemonic principles that can be used more regularly and more easily than memory palaces and rudeness.  Specifically, the key to a strong memory is detail.  The more the better.

For me, that is a counter-intuitive concept.  Before, the picture I had in my head of memory is like a hard-drive on a computer.  For every file I added (a detail) the less space I had for more files.  But, the more I thought about the brain, the more I realized that is not a correct way of thinking about memory.  Our brain provides a structure of pre-existing concepts.  Somehow, these complex concepts are embedded into the network of our brains, and different concepts can be reconnected in new ways to form new memories.  In this way, "memory" isn't a new file on a computer, it is a new set of links between concepts already in the brain.  Therefore, to create strong memories, we need to add as many details as possible because every new detail is a new connection that links a new concept with an existing one.  The more new connections, the less likely we are to lose all the connections over time and forget.

So, when you encounter something new that you need to learn, spend a little bit of effort creating an elaborate mental picture, or model, or the process, system, or fact you need to remember.  The more details you can layer on to the mental model, the more inter-connections you will create and the more likely you will be to remember any single detail.  Yes, this requires some effort up-front.  Is your goal to remember things or be as lazy as possible?  Wait, don't answer that.

Mental Model

Task: Create a detailed mental model of a system or process you need to remember.

Info: In my work, I need to remember a combination of systems, principles and facts.  I'm sure the same can be said for you.  So, when you encounter some new information, try to combine as many details into a mental picture of the problem as possible.  Imagine each part of the process as physical objects interacting.  Imagine how the components might meet, and create a mental picture for the process of interaction.  Label and anthropomorphize each component or person.  In addition, try to imagine how the new information relates to old information you have.  How do the concepts connect?  Can you create a mental model of the new system?

Goal: Maximize the detail of your mental model.

What do you think?  Are you still in the memory = hard-drive camp?  Convince me that I'm wrong in the comments!

Name Game

I always forget my homunculus' name.
I can't stop picturing it: my homunculus in the form of a orangutan, wearing high-heels, doing a risque dance on my kitchen table.  Unfortunately, this is the Week of Memory, not the Week of Forgetting, so I don't have any idea how to get rid of that image.  I guess I'm going to just have to live with it.  But, that's ok, because I'm very excited to distract myself with today's Daily Mind Game.  The name of the game today is the Name Game, and the goal is to try to help myself with a small cognitive deficit I've been dealing with: remembering people's names.

It happens to me all the time.  I meet someone for the first time, a mutual acquaintance introduces us, says the person's name and I immediately start thinking about other stuff.  "I wonder what his spirit animal is?", "Metacognition is a nifty word to say out loud.", "Man, I'm really hungry."  Then, I realize, "Poseidon's beard, I've forgotten his name already!"

It all comes down to a lack of attention, up front.  My attention is not directed at the process of remembering the name, it drifts to other topics.  The name evaporates from working memory.  Then, I'm up a stinky creek without a paddle.  The key, is to make the effort, when the name is fresh, to make it stick.

By now, you have all the tools to do this: your memory palace and some creative imagery.  But, let's add one more little trick to the mix: rhyming.  Things that rhyme are much more memorable than things that do not, so a great strategy for making names stay put is to rhyme the person's name with some strange activity in a place in your memory palace. For example, let's say I just met some dude named Chris Hall.  I might say (in my head, not out-loud) "Chris Hall: Swing and a Miss for Chris Hall, playing wiffleball in my front hall, he put a hole in the wall! Chris Hall." Of course, I would also visualize this very scene in my memory palace.  Done.  Name committed to memory.  FOREVER.

Name Game

Task: Remember a new name.

Info: I gave you a pretty good idea above of what it takes to create a lasting memory.  However, some names are harder than others to rhyme and create scenes for.  In those cases, try using alliteration to add some memorability.  Also, if the person possesses some quality that reminds you of an animal or object that starts with the same letter, use that.  Do whatever it takes to create a bunch of memorable links to the person's name in your memory palace.

Goal: Use a combination of rhyming or other word-play, novelty, and your memory palace to commit a name permanently to memory.  You will be quizzed at a later date.

Aren't these memory tricks the bee's knees? Finding memory a breeze? Leave a comment to let me know, if you please ;) Geez.

Lewd, Crude, and Rude

Never forget.
Let's pick some random things to remember, ok? Some things that are totally unrelated to anything we have going on, but that aren't too interesting by themselves. Today, let's memorize the following items: a paperclip, a box of tissues, a glass of water, three red pens, a paper airplane, a baseball cap, a computer monitor, some high heels, a pack of diapers, and nail clippers. Got it? No? Let's fix that.

Yesterday, we created our first memory palace using our childhood home. The idea was to create a visual structure in our brain and then to exploit that structure to remember a bunch of random schtuff. Our brains are visuospatial machines, and will easily remember stuff if we create a vivid visual, spatial, and experiential image of the things to remember. Today, we're going to combine our memory palace with another memory trick in order to commit the list of objects above to memory. The other memory trick? Memorability.

Some things are just more memorable than others. This is particularly poignant days after September 11th here in the U.S. The emotional nature of the terrorist attacks 10 years ago, the extreme images, the fear, all resulted in rapid, vivid,and long lasting memories. Why? Because all of the neurochemical soup flooding around our brain in that moment was screaming: "important!" So, we remember.

Today, we're going to create faux memorability, in our memory palace, to remember less important things: the ten objects listed at the start of today's post.

Lewd, Crude, and Rude

Task: Memorize the ten objects listed above.

Info: To remember the objects, you will use the two memory tricks we've discussed this far: your memory palace and memorableness. Start walking through you childhood home recalling all the details along the way. Now, as you reach discrete spaces and places in your house, imagine the objects one by one being in different spaces. This is the function of your memory palace. But in addition, imagine a family member doing something strange, awkward, rude, crude, or lewd with each of the objects. Why? To make it memorable! For example, I'm imagining my brother piercing his own ears with a paper clip in my laundry room. I will never forget that image. You try it! Be as creative as possible.

Goal: Memorize all ten objects, in order, using your memory palace and memorableness.

How did it go?  Did it work? If it didn't you weren't being nasty enough!  Visualize your dog taking a poop in a baseball cap on your kitchen counter. A glass of water with an eyeball in it, in your refrigerator.  Really get into it. You'll remember, I promise!

Childhood Home

A typical memory palace.
The place where you grew up - picture it in your mind's eye.  Take a tour, virtually, in your mind, like you are getting home from another day at school.  Picture the entrance, look around.  Take in the details: the carpet on the stairs, the coats hanging on the hooks, the color of the laundry-room door, the shape and texture of the tiles in the hall.  Feel the floor under your feet, the smoothness, the roughness, the pattern, the texture. Make it feel like reality, because this is your first memory palace.

"Uh, what?" Says your homunculus.  "What is this palatial memory-thingy you speak of?"  Fair enough, it may seem like an unusual connections to make between our childhood home and the art of improving our memory, but, hopefully, the link will soon become clear.

It's a memory trick that has been around for centuries, also known as the Method of Loci.  Our brains have evolved to easily memorize complex sensory information, particularly visual and spatial information.  When objects are placed in physical locations, our brains have an uncanny knack for remembering exactly where they are - a critical skill for hunter-gatherer-hoarder-protohumans that need to remember where that mulberry bush is.

This week, we're going to exploit this feature of the human mind by imagining various objects, people, and events in our childhood home so that we can remember them.  Why do we want to memorize these things, you might ask? Well, to prove that we can!  Then, when we really need to remember something, it'll be a breeze.  So, before we get to the real fun, we must prepare a suitable memory palace.

Childhood Home

Task: Imagine a walking tour of your childhood home.

Info: As you go on your virtual tour, try to virtually experience as many details as you possibly can.  Your goal is to create as vivid and realistic picture of your home as possible.  All of these details will be critical for tomorrow's Daily Mind Game, when we will be trying to memorize a short list of random stuff.  The more details the better, so really go to town!  Be sure to incorporate smells, sounds, etc.  The more details, the more connections your brain will be able to exploit during future memory challenges.

Goal: Create a vivid picture of your childhood home incorporating all five senses: sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch.

Still mystified about the purpose of this exercise? Check in again tomorrow for the next Daily Mind Game, to learn more!

Week of Productivity

I know, I know.  Just a single week dedicated to productivity?  In case you are wondering, I am aware that whole sections of the world wide web are dedicated to increasing productivity.  But, The Happy Homunculus is about improving all aspects of our thinking - we don't want to spend too much time on a single subject, do we?  That being said, I'm beginning to suspect that we will definitely have to revisit procrastination and productivity again in the future, so stay tuned!

Albeit brief, I hope this week's Daily Mind Games were useful in your battle against self-defeating procrastination.  It's always motivating to look back and see what we've accomplished, so here is the entire Week of Productivity in review:

Week of Productivity

Day 1: Too Easy - No such thing.
Day 2: Divide and Conquer - Or, break it up and win?
Day 3: High Contrast - Compare and contrast.
Day 4: Worst Case Scenario - Get busy, or else...
Day 5: Solitary Confinement - Escape distractions.
Day 6: Distraction-Free Zone - Clean your desk.

Just a reminder, all of these challenges were inspired by the book The Procrastination Equation.  If you want more ideas for defeating the impulses that lead to procrastination, check out the book.

It is not clear what the monkeys
are trying to remember. 
Next week is going to be really fun.  I recently read an another amazing book, this one with a more quirky title: Moonwalking with Einstein.  The memorable title is no accident - the book chronicles the journey of one intrepid journalist as he explores the secrets of the world-wide competitive memory circuit.  The book examines human memory from all angles, both scientific and otherwise, and should be enjoyable for both the empiricist and theorist in all of us :)   If you want to get a taste of the book, check out this article from the New York Times written by the author, Joshua Foer.  Really great read.

Too excited to wait for the Week of Memory to begin?  Check out this video for a sneak-peak of what we'll be up to in the days to come...

Finally, can't get enough metacognition?  Here is some further reading from other blogs, that you might enjoy:

Further Reading

1. How can you reduce stress?
2. The secret ingredient of motivation?
3. Dealing with drudgery...
4. Still stressed? Here's another tip.

Distraction-Free Zone

A place for everything and everything in its place.
Yesterday, we decided it would be prudent to physically extract ourselves from the distractions that tempt us to procrastinate.  But why should we move in order to focus?  Why can't our desks be a bastion of serenity?  An oasis of peace?  An island of focus?  A tree of... OK, that's enough.

In case you need some scientist to tell you that a clean and organized workspace helps you focus, then here you go: a study.  And those aren't any scientists, they're from Princeton so it has to be awesome science...  I don't mean to brag, but I've actually met some people who went to Princeton, so I must be awesome by association, right?  I digress.

The bottom line is that the more stuff you have in front of your eyes, the more time it will take to process any one piece of information. Thus, reducing stuff in your face will free brain-juice to focus on other, more important stuff.  So, clean up your desk.

Distraction-Free Zone

Task: Clean up your desk.

Info: How you get organized is up to you, but I recommend to go through everything piled on your desk and be ruthless about throwing things in the garbage.  More and more I realize that I don't need to save that much stuff to get the job done.  I have been a neat-freak before about filing everything in a super-duper system.  But, I soon realized that I rarely open most files.  So, if you're on the fence about anything... Repeat after me: "in da' trash."

Goal: Enjoy 1 hour of productivity on your newly cleaned desk.

Please don't argue with me that your messy desk is some expression of your individuality.  I don't care what your homunculus says.  Are you a rebellious 13 year-old again?  If you want to express yourself, get organized, get focused, and get a ton of incredible work done.  Rock on!

Solitary Confinement

I need some alone time.
How's the Week of Productivity going for you?  My tasks seem easy, and my motivation is really high.  But I can't seem to resist the temptations around me to not work.  People to chat with, intrawebs to surf, distances to stare out into...  What are we to do?  Answer: run away and hide.

In other words, sometimes we have to physically remove ourselves from all the distractions.  The closer and more in-our-face our triggers, the more likely we will give in to temptation.  Just like the distant future seems fuzzy, unimportant and distant, the objects feeding our impulsiveness seem more important when they are right in front of us.  Sooo, the theme for today's DMG is "Out of sight, out of mind."

Solitary Confinement

Task: Work in a place free of distractions and temptations.

Info: When you procrastinate, what do you do instead of working?  Do you compulsively check email? Facebook? Watch TV? Chat with co-workers?  Whatever it is, your job today is to put yourself in a position that is away from your main distractions and get some work done.  If your main distractions are online, try to bring work with you that is not computer-related.  If you must use your computer, do not open any programs (including a browser) that could trigger procrastination.  Do what it takes, but hide from temptation!

Goal: Work for 2 solid hours in solitary confinement.

What do you think?  Does this strategy work for you?  Post your thoughts in the comments!

Worst Case Scenario

Caught red-handed!
My inner child.  Cute, cuddly, and cooing, right?  Wrong.  That little brat is more likely to wail, scream, scratch and bite then give me a hug.  He doesn't care if I need to work. He wants to fidget and watch youtube videos. But how do we get anything done?  By making the needs of our inner adult seem very, very important.

Just like we discussed yesterday, there's something about the future that makes it seem really UNimportant.  The importance of future events pales next to the pull of things happening right now.  When this happens - when the future seems distant - our inner child wins out.  We give in to the distractions and temptations that are here, now, at the expense of our long-term goals.

To combat this, we're going to make the future feel more real, more pressing, and really, really scary.

Worst Case Scenario

Task: Visualize the worst possible thing that might happen if you don't get your work done.

Info: The idea here is to imagine the worst possible outcome of not working.  Really go dark and scary for this visualization task.  Here's what I might imagine as I try to motivate myself to work toward my Ph.D:  As I continue to put off important experiments, the days tick past, one-by-one.  I do the very minimum each day and don't think carefully about how to schedule my time to keep myself busy and make progress.  Experiments take two or three times as long as necessary.  Because I never make time for work, I barely make progress day-to-day, month-to-month, and, eventually, year-to-year.  Before I know it, I'm in my 15th year of my Ph.D. program with no papers and no hope of getting a job.  Finally, my committee decides my lack of progress is unacceptable, but instead of giving me a Ph.D. out of pity, I am kicked out of the program with nothing to show.  Yikes.

Goal: Make the negative outcomes that might result from procrastination feel as immediate and real as possible.

For some, this scare-tactic may be demotivating: the seriousness of the situation makes them freeze.  To avoid this, pair this challenge with previous Daily Mind Games to keep things fun and moving forward.  After today's "Worst Case Scenario", go right into "High Contrast" and imagine the positive outcomes that will come from working hard.  Then, "Divide and Conquer" and complete one task that seems "Too Easy".  Rinse and repeat until you're awesome!

High Contrast

Don't let time pass you by.
Our homunculi are really short-sighted.  They are basically little monkeys: it's about right now, me, here, now.  I'm hungry, now!  I'm bored, now! I'm tired, now! Unfortunately, today's "now" doesn't last forever, and before we know it, what was once "the distant future" becomes "now" and we must live with the consequences of our actions.  Perhaps it is time to help our little, impulsive inner-monkeys visualize what the future could be like.

One strategy for increasing our motivation to get to work, now, is to contrast our current state with our dream future state.  This can work for any goal that we're procrastinating on: what is your life like right now, and what do you want it to be like?

High Contrast

Task: Compare and contrast your current state with your dream state.

Info: This is a visualization exercise, so find a nice, quiet spot.  What do you need motivation to do? Get to work?  Lose weight? Start a new business?  Whatever it might be, visualize your life right now.  Really picture in your mind all the aspects of your life, right now that are not ideal.  Then, start to visualize how your life could be if only you accomplished the goal of your choosing.  What would be different about your life?  How would it feel on a daily basis after you've completed the goal?  Really try to visualize all the awesome stuff that will come your way if you can accomplish your goal.  This exercise is known as mental contrasting and serves to remind our impulsive sides that there are discrepancies between what we are now and what we want to be.  This can be a powerful motivator to get back on task.  Give it a try!

Goal: Spend 10minutes visualizing your current state and 10minutes contrasting that with your "dream" state.

As a small aside, try not to think about everything you need to do to get from your current state to your dream state - that can often be overwhelming.  Instead, use a vivid, visualized dream state as a tasty carrot pulling you to get back to work.  Then divide and conquer, and do one easy thing to get a step closer to your goal. Rinse and repeat!

Divide and Conquer

Divide and conquer may work with monkeys, too.
It's the oldest trick in the book for overcoming procrastination: take a really hard task and break it into much smaller, more manageable tasks.  Why don't we all do it, all the time then?  Well, we are procrastinators, right? Why shouldn't we procrastinate on breaking-really-hard-tasks-into-more-manageable-tasks too?  I mean, it's a task...

Unfortunately, I don't have a solution to the problem.  For whatever reason, the act of breaking up complex tasks into simpler ones is often not fun at all.  But that doesn't change the fact that if you can just get past that initial barrier and force yourself to do it, all the subsequent steps will be much, much easier.

So, that's today's Daily Mind Game.  Your mission is to take some complex, nasty project-task frankenstein and break that monster up into as many tiny little pieces as is humanly possible.  This is your challenge.  It's all you have to do for your metacognitive training today.  Don't wuss out!

Divide and Conquer

Task: Divide a massive task or project into as many simple subtasks as possible and complete one.

Info: Remember yesterday's DMG "Too Easy"?  The goals was to complete a single, stupidly easy task.  Your job today is to take a massive project and try to break it up into as many "Too Easy" tasks as possible.  Don't be shy: brainstorm the heck out of how you might subdivide this task. Go crazy, don't be embarrassed if the tasks get to the level of "Lick stamp and place on envelope."  The point is to create a list of tasks that are so easy you've turned an impossible project into a series of tasks that will get done organically.  Have fun with it!

Goal: Create a list of at least 20 subtasks for a single project or mega-task.

If you're like me, you're going to want to procrastinate on this too.  Don't give in!  Promise yourself you'll do this at the very least today.  It will make future work so much easier.

Too Easy

Complete one, really, really,
ridiculously, easy task.
It's ironic.  This week is supposed to be The Week of Productivity at The Happy Homunculus and here I am, writing this post last-minute. Uggh.  If only I had been able to plan ahead enough to write the post last week, this wouldn't have happened.  But that's ok, why have a Week of Productivity if there isn't some room for improvement, right?  The personal hang-up I wrestle with the most is procrastination, so this is just what the doctor order for Yours Truly.  What about you?  Are you ready to get busy?

I'm pretty sure the answer is "yes", because I don't think I've met a single person who thinks they are productive enough.  There is always some room for improvement.  For that reason, I hope you'll follow along this week as we try some challenges designed to improve our ability to stay focused and get some work done.

I recently read a nice book on the psychology of procrastination: The Procrastination Equation.  The book reports on the most recent research linking impulsiveness and poor self-control with procrastination, and I found the argument compelling.  In addition, the book gave me a bunch of practical ideas for how to combat procrastination in my own life.  These strategies will form the foundation for this week's Daily Mind Games.

For the first DMG, let's start with an easy one.  A really, really easy one...

Too Easy

Task: Pick an absurdly easy task and complete it.

Info: Huge, scary projects are often so intimidating and complex that it can seem totally over our head.  Today's challenge is designed so that we simultaneous get started on the project and gain confidence with a very simple task.  When you choose your task, pick something that seems so easy it makes you feel a little awkward.  The point is to pick a task that is so simple, so mindless, so easy that you have no excuse for not doing it.  If you accomplish this "too easy" task today, you win the game.  If you don't, then the task wasn't easy enough!  Try again.

Goal: Complete a really, really, ridiculously easy task.

This DMG reminds me of Small Change, from The Week of Motivation.  Small wins are the way to go when motivation is low...  Good luck!

Week of Flow

Go with the flow.
Good work masters of metacognition!  You've completed another Week of Metacognition: the Week of Flow is behind us.  But, that doesn't mean we should forget what we've learned...  Oh, no. Flow is a state of mind, a state of engagement with the task at-hand and, as we've discussed already, depends on how we think about the things we do.  I hope you will continue to look at all your activities as opportunities to get in the zone.

Miss The Week of Flow?  Missed The Week of Flow? Try it again for the first time:

Week of Flow

Day 1: Finding Flow - Look out for flow.
Day 2: Feast of Flow - Flow, with food.
Day 3: Physical Flow - Flow, with movement.
Day 4: Liquid List - Your to-do list is a game.
Day 5: Liquid Life - Your life is a game.
Day 6: Stream of Consciousness - Your thinking is a game.

Next week, The Happy Homunculus is going to be all about Productivity.  I recently read The Procrastination Equation by Piers Steel, which made the interesting link between procrastination and impulsiveness.  Reading the book inspired me to inspire my readers to be more productive, so next week I've prepared some fun Daily Mind Games that are designed to help us produce.  Fun!

Are you diggin' The Happy Homunculus?  Please, take some time and show your support!

Stream of Consciousness

Feeling the Flow. 
The Week of Flow is coming to a close, and to celebrate another productive Week of Metacognition, we're going to get a bit philosophical.  We've been slowly challenging our assumptions about the types of activities that can get us into the zone.  Today, we're going to look within, and turn the very act of introspection into a Flow Experience.  It's time to open a can of Flow on your Homunculus.

I know I've been like a broken record this week, each day rehashing the three critical components that produce flow.  But I'm going to do it one last time.  The requirements for a flow-experience are: a well-defined goal, feedback, skill-appropriate challenge.  I also know that I've been a broken record this week for another reason, pushing the notion that any activity can be a flow activity.  We've progressed from squeezing flow from a chore, to wringing flow from our to-do list, to crafting an entire day as one, long flow-experience.  Let's push this point even more, shall we?

I'm not trying to be clever here, I really believe that any task can be thought of as a "game" and, in this way, can be magically transformed into a flow experience.  All we need to do is be creative about setting some clear, skill-appropriate goals and paying attention to our progress.  We can do it with chores, we can do it with work, and... 

...dramatic pause...

...We can do it with our own thinking.  You read me right: the act of metacognition itself can be a flow experience.  If you can convince yourself of this, and actually apply the principles of flow to your thinking, you will never be bored again!  Really, this is what meditation is all about - looking at the act of sitting and thinking as a new challenge.  But, it doesn't stop with meditation.  We can set metacognitive goals for ourselves each day (which is what The Happy Homunculus is all about *wink) and we can self-monitor to get a sense of our progress.  Instant flow!

That is your challenge for today.  Craft a "thinking goal" for yourself today and get after it!

Stream of Consciousness

Task: Decide on a metacognitive goal for today.

Info: Don't forget the critical requirements for flow!  The most important thing to do is pick an appropriate goal. If you are a chronic worrier, then it probably isn't a reasonable goal to not worry at all for the entire day.  Instead, make your goal something you can achieve: "Monitor my own thinking and recognize times when I am worrying automatically."  You have the best sense of what an appropriate thinking goal is for yourself.  Be honest with yourself about the state of your thinking-patterns and pick something fun but challenging to change about your thinking today.

Goal: Feel the flow during thought.

Good luck - post your reaction in the comments!

Liquid Life

Zoned out. All the time!
Nothing makes my Homunculus happier than being in the zone.  So, during this whole Week of Flow, that little dude in my brain has been one happy camper.  In fact, he wants even more!  I woke up today to find my Homunculus already awake and waiting for me: "So, Master, I really like this whole Flow thing we've been doing.  Why can't our whole lives be one big Flow Experience?"  To which I responded: "You know, Myself, you've got a point there."

All week, we've been cultivating new opportunities to get in the zone and, hopefully, it's becoming clear that opportunities for Flow are everywhere.  All we need for flow is a task with clear goals, feedback, and appropriate challenge.  With those broad requirements in mind, our entire lives are ripe for inducing flow. All it takes is to think about each part of the day as a flow event: What are your goals?  Are the goals specific? Are you making progress right now (immediate feedback)? Are you tackling challenges that are appropriate to your skill level?

By asking these questions of our own behavior, we can start to approach our daily lives with the goal of inducing flow.  Almost anything can then be turned into a flow event.  In fact, that's your challenge for today:

Liquid Life

Task: Get into the Zone for the entire day.

Info: For each stage of today, each task or activity, think about how the task does or does not meet the requirements of flow.  How can you tweak the activity, or your perspective on the activity, to make it more likely to get you in the zone?  For me, the number one mistake I make is to think about a task in too broad of terms: "Get into shape", "Finish the paper", "Learn more chemistry".  These challenges are not framed a level that is appropriate to my current skill.  If I reframe these goals as smaller, more skill-appropriate goals, I almost instantly get in the zone: "Go for a 3 mile run", "Edit the abstract", "Order Cliffsnotes for Chemistry".

Goal: Minimize periods of Non-Flow to no more than ten bouts of 5 minutes.

One final note, when I am most likely to not be in the zone is when I'm not focused on the task at hand and am worrying about "things in general." Be mindful of the task at hand instead, and you'll be much more likely to get into the zone. It's one of our Principles of Greatness here at The Happy Homunculus and is critical to getting and staying focused.