Lucky #13 (Radical Mutual-Improvement)

Looks like I won't get a chance to re-do exercise #12 -- been removed from the testing project at work.  Ah well... it wasn't a good fit for me, anyway.  Now, instead of waiting to get assigned an actual workspace and permanent computer to use, I'm back "home", as it were.  I can also get on with the next exercise in the list: Set up your mind’s workspace (Exercise #13).

I can imagine my mind's workspace like I would imagine my ideal workspace:  sparse, well-lit, comfortable, and with everything I need within arm's reach (or easily findable if it wasn't within arm's reach).

The majority of the article here focuses on memory improvement, and I can tell you:  I certainly need that.  When I was at my most efficient, I had a white board right next to my desk, a big calendar drawn on it, and everything plotted out one month in advance.  I also carried a little notebook with me wherever I went (it helped that I wore collared shirts every day, and had a place for that little notebook that didn't involve it getting crushed when I sat down), and had a weekly planner for appointments and the like that went in the same pocket as my notebook.  I was, to say the least, very organized.  I had a list of 35 or so phone numbers at the command of my mind's eye.  Very organized.

Now, I don't have the white board or things planned out.  I've tried a bunch of virtual calendars but have never been able to stick with one, as it were.  We use Outlook here at work, but in order to access my work calendar from home, I have to fire up a VPN, load up Internet Explorer (not even my browser of choice, ugh), and then wait for a slow, outdated Webmail interface to pop up on the screen.  I wear t-shirts and jeans to work, so there is not a small notebook to be found, as I can't stand having things in my pants pockets (see "ultra slim mostly empty duct tape wallet"), nor is there a weekly planner.  I have experimented with PocketMods, but actually remembering where I've laid the 50 or so of those I've burned through is a chore, since I don't have a system at home to track them, and since they got put somewhere during the move, I don't know where they went.  I'm still working on getting everything put together that I need to on the home front.  I'm going to take a few hours while the wife is on vacation and really clean all the junk out of there and go for the fresh start.  And don't even get me started on phone numbers.  If you gave me a phone and told me to call one of my friends, there is no way I could do it without calling home and asking my wife to please go in that little phone book and tell me what number to dial.  And there's not even a guarantee that it's in there.

Anyway... memory.  Talking about improving memory, it has been suggested that the best way to improve one's memory is to associate things with a striking image, a powerful emotion, and/or a new smell.  This actually relates very well to a discussion I had with a friend yesterday about Skittles:  the flavors are different in France, and I was wracking my brain trying to remember which flavor the purple Skittle was.  I could taste the flavor in my mouth, that's how well I could remember it.  I just couldn't remember the word in French to trigger the association with what the heck it is in English (it's black currant, and I still don't know the French word).

While I don't want to memorize my friends' phone numbers through associating them with taste or smell, I can do the image and emotion thing.  So we'll see what kind of progress I can do in a week.  I'm going to dig up some old PocketMods, too -- can't hurt. :-)