This is a work in progress.
The Trickle-Down Energy Model is intended to set realistic work expectations for myself. It is a refinement of the two-slot aux from 2019. Instead of two main tasks as "slots" and a third "auxiliary slot" for everything else, the Trickle-Down Energy Model has just one main task.
Slot and Block Elements
- One main project to complete over many days
- One daily 15 minute task on other nice to have projects
- One+ Body Presence/Sensory Movement activities to trigger Happy Bubble Time
Energy Management
- CGT-style log of communication shared with outside world
- No more than two scheduled social interactions every 10 days (unscheduled is ok)
- One three day uninterrupted block of time for working every week.
- Limited use of thinking analyzing every day. Shift mental processing toward sensory and movement to give brain rest to prevent dysregulation
- be alert for dysregulated over and under stimulation. Compile list of symptoms
Novelty Injection
- Tracking of ideas that pop into head. Each item worth a point. Old list must be discarded every day and started again. It is not a todo list. It’s a curiosity creative capture reflection list.
- Items that persist can be acted on for a few minutes, but they are never allowed to be promoted to a “I have to do this” sense of urgency.
- may result in emergent projects or add to existing project
- harnesses otherwise wasteful impulse energy to create value for future
Mental Health
- main +aux +gathered tasks
- limits to prevent dysregulation and burnout from accumulating
- guard systems to detect dysregulation events
- retention of complex inner world as private sanctuary for personal cultivation, no expectation that others will want to understand it or are even capable of it (unlikely but welcome if someone asks)
Tracking and Progression
- return of logging/journaling as tracking mechanism for minimal continuity, intended to work as gathering style
Examples of Energy
Intentional Applications of Mental Energies
- focused energy - allows me to start a project and keep at it for a period of time, employing all my mental tricks. Burns a lot of mental enery as I overwork the rational centers of my brain at high intensity.
- drawing thoughts and diagrams - shift to visual processing and reacting to what I'm drawing/writing
- a question posted to me by someone else - if something pops into my head that seems doable
- non-commital experimental tasking - when I allow myself to do something for a few minutes just so I can say I did something; often this leads to more work
Other Energies
- sensory / physical sensation - the body just does stuff on its own, if I suppress the urge to process and think about stuff...the motion seems to help with recovery of mental energies
- emotional squee energy - when I see something cute that makes me feel super happy and connected with other people
- researching possibilities that solve an interesting problem that's unrelated to anything I'm supposed to be doing - when an idea pops into my head that I think I can piece together immediately.
- writing down thoughts / stream of consciousness - just writing to clarify
- avoidance of responsibilities, playing video games, binging media