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Comment by AriaMinaei | Hacker News Reader

The combination of (roundtable discussions|debates|audiobooks) with (walking|cleaning house|washing dishes|other chores) is the most productive procrastination technique I have. It changes mental context, stimulates the brain, and makes the chore enjoyable. I even sometimes do it while writing code. Of course, I can't take it all in, but I still find that it enriches my experience.

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I do chores as yoga exercise, never thought of adding podcast to the blend..

I work in manufacturing, and sometimes i listen to podcasts, but sometimes i meditate(like tai-chi, attention to body movements) while working.

Meditating is harder(and coffee is helpful), but when successful, is much more satisfying.

I'm still not sure I approached a meditative state by "meditating". When I play drums I do get into a slight trance / bliss where I kinda become music and my mind shifts off.

The key to flow/meditativr-state is sussposed to be fitting the processing capability someone's brain has , to the task. That way all of your attention is given to a network called "task mode network" and no attention is left to the "default mode network " (which is resonsible for mental chatter and self in past/present) so the brain becomes quiet.

So maybe there's a way to make chores more demanding of attention[1] ? Like deciding to do them in a different way or focus on more/different details ? Maybe that's why the Japanese tea ceremony is so complicated ?

[1]As drumming is , altough maybe there's something meditative about music?

That's quite interesting. Any reading material about that?

Some of it from internet research about flow, so hard to pinpoint specific material. Some of it from this very good youtube lecture: "the end of suffering and the default mode network" .

Thank you. I'll make sure to watch it :)

Very interesting lecture! Thanks!

I do that all the time. I think I did this from birth. Anything boring I twist it to make it "interesting". I achieved supposedly a 10x throughput increase in my last mission (stupid job though) by applying checking constraints so tight it was a choreography.

This doesn't work all the time though. I believe there are limits to ones ability to influence it's mental state. Last year, very sick, I could sense the calming effect of meditation. But tonight for instance, after a violent incident, my mind is racing.

You are experiencing Flow: https://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Perennial-...

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