Procrastinator

I'm reading (listening to) The Upside of Irrationality by Dan Ariely. It's fascinating how irrational we are - or can be. This book has it all: lying, cheating, revenge, medical treatment, car repairs...

I've also found Dan has done a talk on TED, asking if we're really as in control of our decisions as we think we are.

As if that wasn't enough, he's also created an app:  Procrastinator, which may just change my life.

You nominate a decision, and a specified length of time, after which Procrastinator chooses for you. You can also choose to simply let the Procrastinator make the choice for you.The price tag of $1.99 is paid to the graduate students who actually did the coding, according to Mr Ariely's website. Seems cheap to me.

I've been known to flip a coin, and then choose the opposite. That's because the sense of disappointment I felt when heads (or tails) came down showed me I might have more of a preference than I recognised.

Now that I'm reading about irrationality, it may just be that I feel better about my decision after the coin toss, whichever decision it was. As I use this technique for life-changing decisions like which of two favourite restaurants to eat at tonight, this degree of affirmation may be all that I need.

Butterflies

Yesterday I went for a walk at a nearby park. The sun shone, the grass was green, birds Cadillac in the trees. A dozen butterflies danced around me on a deserted path. It was a beautiful, uplifting sight.

It would have been easy to miss seeing them, if I'd been too intent on getting where I was going. Or if I'd been busy thinking of something else.

Profligate beauty is all around us, if we have the eyes to see it.

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Small adjustments, big payoff

Today I parked at the local market. I was delighted to get a spot in the shade. At our house we are shade-lovers on even quite mild sunny days. It's an unthinking habit now. I'll walk a block further to have a cooler car.

I began to consider how I've benefitted from making shade-seeking a habit. It's hard to quantify exactly, but how much frustration have I avoided by my car being up to 10'c cooker than those parked in the sun's glare? How much spoiled food have I avoided? How many ruined CDs and tapes? (Yes, I am that old,) how many dehydration headaches?

This small adjustment has probably caused a small but definite improvement in my overall quality of life. Small adjustment, but a big payoff.

Sent from my iPhone