Sunny and Ashley, one of the upsides of being obsessive, is using being able to do the monitoring.
I’m not new at using different tools, but I’d like to share how great it’s been, although it’s been a long haul, and my help has come from books suggested by my medical/other practitioner or in sessions when they thought it was time. I’ve done half the programme . There is a feeling of control when you are looking at different aspects of your life. It’s hard to start, since an uneasy state made anything tedious a burden at the outset. Most of my stuff comes from the book “Mastery of Anxiety & Worry”.
Progressive relaxation
I used to measure progressive relaxation on a scale, and when I became better at committing to it, I could shorten the groups of muscles I focused on. I re-introduce it when things I need it, or tire of it. Mindfulness meditation didn’t do much for me.
Thought/Worry records
I always keep worry records with me, and this helps the ongoing dialogue with my mentor, if there is a theme.
My worry record use has declined, and I have resumed progressive relaxation without measuring it before my night prayer, with the benefits of less uneasiness.
Daily Activities List
A “to do” list a daily routine, and helps indicate my commitment and need for tweaking.
Other audits: Time Audits
Time audits have helped with finding how I’m not reaching any personal goals, but I’ve not used a 24/7 grid for a few weeks. I monitor my television watched, and find that it drops dramatically when I have a structured activity. Restorative sleep is also important, and I’m monitoring that with TV watching.
Exercise
Josies’ forums is currently on exercise benefits, and I’m measuring weekly cardio too, so I can gently resume my conditioning to the state before I stretched some back muscles, and eventually join some physically demanding people activities during the summer.
Our Emotional “timetables”
I was in such a state the last few years, that I couldn’t take advantage of the online resources, or the wireless technology which can let you be comforted 24/7, but paper & pencil will be fine.
My growth has always been incremental, and there was a lot road to cover, and new challenges present themselves. I’ll bet a bit of that would help with the detail of this programme.
I’ve asked the forum webmistress if she can add an optional monitoring feature for measuring time online, since we could balance that with the “homework” of life which is why we’re online in the first place.
It was great to write this, since I see how much I’ve done, and feel grateful for the help I’ve had. Hopefully my achievements aren’t discouraging, since you wouldn’t believe where I’d started!
And of course, there’s a downside to OCD...
