Sometimes we need to pause and rethink our life. Whether we are making the right choises, whether things should go the exact same way they are going, or there are things to change. I have made some drastic changes in my life just like you may have made in yours. And so far, I have enjoyed making such changes. And I feel, it's now time to change a few things for good again.

# Time to Think

Waking up in the morning, and thinking is a privilege for most. Almost all of us are chasing the clock starting from the moment we wake up, till we go to bed, even on weekends. So, if you got this priviledge, you are one of the luckiest ones, like me 🙂. I tried many different things to utilize this precious time to the fullest. One attempt was GTD, which I couldn't follow in its fullest form, but it taught me note taking, a habit I truely enjoy. Other times, I made lists of what I want to do, align with my values and interests, what are the immediate action points, what I want to achieve in the long run etc. But I eventually realized, I don't actually enjoy following "the plan", rather the moment a bit of "unpredictibility" becomes "the plan", I lose interest in it. Plans are boring. And they change, making the entire boring grind pointless. Most of the time, I have to choose between Planning (predictability) and being able to discover new things (unpredictability). And that's a big problem with these "get yourself organised" methods... they rely on planning too much. So I won't waste this precious thinking time on planning anymore. I'll do the other parts instead which I enjoy very very much.

# My Own Framework

Even if there are powerful frameworks out there, learning and following which I could probably meet most of my goals efficiently, I always found inventing something of my own more effective in the long run. First of all, I get to learn what are core problems I'm trying to solve using the famework in a practical way. Above that I get to learn by making mistakes, seeing how other frameworks try to tackle those problems, and then trying to improve upon them. And since it's my own framework, I can make it as simple or complex as I want.

While frameworks like GTD, PPV etc. are highly customizable and probably very effective for many, I feel I'll be more productive creating my own super customised framework, probably on top of these frameworks, eleminating things I don't like, including things I enjoy, and finding fun hacks to make the unavoidable boring things enjoyable.

# The Core

Habit, naturally is the core of this framework, just like all the other frameworks. All other properties of my framework depend on this single property. But habit is boring. It's very predictable, just like planning. But unlike planning, it's permanent (ideally). It doesn't change (shouldn't) unless you want it to. Today's schedule can get interrupted, so can tomorrow's. But it can't keep getting interrupted forever. If it does, it's not habit, it's just planning. We need habit as the bare minimum if we want to bring positive changes to life. If it still feels boring, I can and should make it more interesting. It only requires a bit of thinking, which itself should be a daily habit. As per Jeetu Bhaiya, it takes 21 days to form a habit 🙃.

Personal Values is another important property of the framework that defines who I am. It may or may not have shaped my past, but I want it to shape my future. I want to remember my personal values everytime I make a decision, and also everytime I avoid making one. That's why it should be a habit to remember my personal values on a daily basis.

Religion is the above two combined. Re-iterating one's core values to themselves everyday, in some cases, multiple times a day, is the fundemental task of a person dedicated to their religion. It's difficult to admit for an atheist like myself, but religiously dedicated people have a lot of things figured out for themselves, even though, they were not the ones who did the thinking and figuring out. They probably have other higher priorities than wasting time re-thinking the centuries old tried-and-tested way of life already debated by capable people millions of times and written down on that scripture. But we atheists need to figure things out for ourselves, and more important than that, make a habit of re-iterating them to ourselves, so we don't stray away from our core values.

# Problem 1

Evil devils could have been the enemy of religion in the past (maybe present too), but today, IMO the primary evil we need to fight, every individual second, actively, is the dopamine dose being offered to us through the colorful screens, in the form of always available, never ending entertainment.

We all know the reason of our decreased attenition span. We all know what's most likely to interrupt us the moment we start focusing on something. We all know what can get us so hooked before sleep that we end up pulling an all-nighter. We all know what we end up spending our fresh morning energy on, turning habit into a failed plan. And yet we can't avoid it. We need it and it will be with us forever.

It's easy to blame a piece of technology, a business, an industry, and even the collective human nature, but in the end, it's only me who takes up on that offer of dopamine dose.

# Solution 1

The only ally we need to tackle this problem is our own consciousness and judgement. The framework should make sure that I am conscious and able to make that judgement at the right time. While others can call their "goal" or "ambition" their other allys, for me personally, judgement is the only and most reliable ally I'll need. It helped me single handedly avoid all the other addictions so far.

# Problem 2

Mood is another factor we need to get a hold of. Core values and judgements often stop working when emotions are not normal, or when we simply just want to stop being ourselves for a moment. Unfortunately it happens, and most of us can't simply control our mood always even if we practice meditation regularly. Unlike dopamine addiction, our mood often depends on external factors, like how other people treat us, which is entirely out of our control.

# Solution 2

When the problem comes from external factors, out of our control, we need help from external allys too. People often hurt us, but people also heal us. If we have dependable allys, we can stay positive and healthy.

I'll keep updating more problems and solutions here as I encounter them.

# The Actual Method

The entire framework in its most simple form looks like this:

Define how a successful positive day looks like based on personal values. Then make a habit of living up to that definition as closely as possible. Minimise the control of enemies, depend on allys when needed. Don't forget to recite personal values and re-think what to change.

Personally, for me A successful positive day would look like this:

Weekdays:

Weekends:

Well, that's a lot. But the point is to follow the definition "as closely as possible".

The more of these I'm able to follow, the more deserving of a reward I become. A reward is can be doing anything that requires me to cheat on the habits for a specified amount of time. I'm yet to work out the exact details of this, but the idea is that success deserves rewards. There's no punishment on failure though. Well, maybe 10 more pushups... I don't know 😏.

# Tracking & Rewards

Tracking is important but boring. So I need to make in fun. Rewards should be worthwhile. As already mentioned, rewards allow me do things that would otherwise require me to cheat on my regular habits. I'll make a list of rewards that I want, and everyday will earn points by following the habits. The more cheat time a reward allows, the more point it requires. Yet to work out more details.