My attempt to activate certain ideas in my mind.

I’ve been thinking about psychological phenomena like “priming” and “accessibility.”

“Priming” refers to the fact that if a person’s unconscious is directed toward a particular concept, his or her behavior will change accordingly. So if you covertly introduce the idea of old age, people will act older, move more slowly; if you introduce the idea of rudeness, people behave more rudely.

“Accessibility” refers to how readily a person activates certain mental information. Some information is more accessible—information that has been encountered recently, for example, or information in a category relevant to other active information.

Whether it's a logical sequence of thought or not, reading about priming and accessibility made me decide that it might be useful to remind myself frequently of certain concepts and goals.

So I went around the apartment a few weeks ago, putting up sticky notes on neon-colored paper. Each note has a few words that are meant to energize certain ideas and attitudes in my mind.

The note on my laptop says, “Focused and observant.” The note in my office says, “Creative and confident.” The note on the fridge says, “Busy and energetic” (i.e., get out of the kitchen and do something!) The note in our bedroom says, “Quiet mind.” After I put a note in the master bathroom that said, “Tender and light-hearted,” the Big Man crossed it out and wrote, “Light and flaky.” That made me laugh.

So, does it make a difference? I’ve had to discipline myself to read and register these notes; it’s all too easy to let them fade into the background, like the family photographs that I rarely notice.

But even if I don’t process the words every time, I often do manage to think about them for a few moments.

And I do think that these notes help keep these attitudes uppermost in my mind. I find myself remembering to lighten up, to keep focused, to cultivate the quiet mind that I need to do serious reading.

Comments

[Jude]

I made a sign using Printshop that says "No criticism" and stuck it on the wall. Even though "no criticism" seems to be impossible, it helps remind me to be more positive in dealing with my sons (like my conscious decision to refer to them as "angels" when they were younger, even though they frequently behaved like devils). I like to make attractive signs of favorite quotations like the more enigmatic ones by Ben Franklin (e.g., "Do not squander time for that is the stuff life is made of"--it's enigmatic because I'm not sure if I agree). I also posted signs with my son's favorite food brands so I can stick those into my brain every time I check out the bulletin board above my computer. That's another kind of useful programming--the kind that means I can remember what he likes when I get to the grocery store.

[Ariane Benefit, Neat Living]

Ah Gretchen, I can always count on you for incredibly insightful posts that eloquently explain powerful concepts! In my office, I have a few signs to help me stay focused. One says "One thing at a time!" This helps keep me from multitasking to the point that I don't do anything well. Another is a Neon Pink Post-it on my monitor that asks "What is MOST important right now?"

Thanks for your awesome blog...I always learn so much from you!

Ariane

[Don]

I've tried ideas like this before but, like you, the notes faded into the background. Your post just connected this idea with something I've been doing for several months to help me with my tickler file.

I use a Windows-based program called Stickies (from zhornsoftware.co.uk) to pop up timed reminders. For instance, at 8:15am a note pops up asking me if I checked my tickler file. On Mondays at 9am, I get a note reminding me to water my plant. I set these stickies to float over everything on my screen so they can't be ignored (if I'm at my computer).

Maybe I'll try something like this with some concepts and goals that are important to me. Thanks for the idea!