Refraining Project update…

Some of you know that I time track. I've written about it before. The app I use is called Timery...a third party app that accesses Toggl...which is the the primary app/service. I've only just started this project recently. And...what I mean by project is that “it” (Refraining) is something I am interested in seeing...among other things...how much of my time I'm spending on. This past week at breakfast…before work…i tracked about 6 minutes and 19 seconds...I decided to just have breakfast…no music…no listening to a podcast…no news on my Amazon Echo. I’ve initiated the timer two other times, once for 6 minutes and just recently for about 5 and 1/2 minutes.

What's been really interesting is that there have been other, micro-moments that I've refrained from doing or saying things but I've not felt compelled to initiate the project timer. Some of these micro-moments have been in the car, while driving. A fellow motorist may have cut me off or I feel that the person in front of me is driving too slow. It is at these times that I could do many things, yell at my windshield being the my favorite. Instead…I have caught myself getting quiet and letting things “just be.” Another example is right now...I'm just writing this blog post…no music…no listening to podcasts, etc. In this instance, technically I'm refraining from doing something other than writing. One more example of refraining without the need for the timer involved me not opening my phone while on the treadmill this morning during my run. I really wanted to check to see if a friend had responded to a text but stopped myself and just kept...running! Deciding to create this project/timer has heightened my sense for the need to “just be” in certain circumstances. Like many of the other timers I keep and my interest in my screen time on my iPhone, I am not necessarily trying to accumulate more time refraining as much as I am trying to become more mindful of the importance to refrain.

I want to continue to explore this concept of refraining as both a tracked and untracked project.