Decide to automate your sub-task into your dev-brain

Ahoy, skill-builder pirate of Jamstackia!

👋😺🏴‍☠️

We looked into a can-do-with-effort sub-task in my last letter, and so today, I say:

WHY: Your distractor enemies are "In It To Win It"

Your distractor enemies are "In It To Win It" and so should you be because you should not underestimate the Distracting Power of your enemies. Who are you up against? You have to find out for yourself who your worst distractor enemies are. But I KNOW one of your dev-brain's enemies is your own personal Distraction Diaz. Every time Distraction Diaz slaps your dev-brain, there's a chance you lose your focus.

Don't let Distraction Diaz take you down until your sub-task practice session is done

During your sub-task practice, session thoughts and feelings will enter your dev-brain uninvited. Here is a technique to help you stay focused.

HOW do you make each distraction leave your dev-brain?

A. When a distraction enters your dev-brain observe it calmly and label it either "thought" or "feeling," and let it go.

B. Go back to practicing your sub-task.

C. You can practice this labeling technique by meditating. That's what I do daily. Check out this 11 minute guided meditation for focus by Headspace if this sounds useful for you. I use a meditation from this focus-pack every day 😺

Example: Git hell distraction anger

This week I've been working on a plugin upgrade for our favorite client, and I ran into a bit of a git hell 😠 I did not let myself be distracted into trying to fix that myself. Instead, I labeled my anger "feeling," then I gave my laptop to The Queen and stayed in the kitchen until she fixed it. Then I went back to practicing my sub-task.

Your TODO

Write up a sentence, or two, about a distraction you labeled in a recent practice session. Or maybe a distraction that made you lose your focus. Or if you tried the labeling technique on a dev-task in your day job, please let us hear about it in an email. That'll do Lillian (7 🏴‍☠️👸) and me a ton of good!

🏴‍☠️😺👍

ARR!

Stay piraty 🏴‍☠️😺👍 and keep practicing!

Cap'n Ola Vea

P.S: The following letter will ask, "When is your sub-task practice session done?"