+ *Coffeine* Gaaaah. An IT guy misspelling Caffeine.
+ *twits* This one is actualy funny. A "twit" is a moron. A "tweet" is a twitter message.
The "No twits" thing definitely helps concentration, but did you mean "tweet" ?
I would also add a part about cutting out hardware/tool-related frustration. Nothing kicks me out of the flow like the system freezing, having to hunt for free disk space on the test server, etc.
Interesting to see Core Transformation in a posting about programming. I highly recommend CT as a low-cost self-coaching / self-therapy methodology. And if you can find a partner, so much the better.
Highly recommended to untwist mental knots and resolve issues from the past that are bothering you until now.
I also recommend the book as the best and cheapest (< $20) intro to see if it's right for you.
I've run the process on myself probably 50-100 times (don't have my "case notes" on this computer and I don't recall the exact number) and a number of times assisting others. I also took a one day seminar a couple of months ago from Mindbridge at a cost of about $200. This was useful for networking with others who were interested in the technique, and practicing with a partner, but I think that most of the value from the process comes from learning by doing. I recommend creating a study group or finding a partner and just charging forward if you're interested in learning more.
The fundamental action of the CT technique involves drilling deeper into things that you think that you want (or don't want), that are actually placeholders for something more important and more fundamental.
Since this is HN, I can explain this process in terms of recursion and/or iteration - basically, you apply a function multiple times until you reach a stable limit cycle or fixed point. :) (The function is applied via asking and answering certain structured questions.) For example, you may inquire into your desire for financial success, detour through a need for acceptance by your family and peers, and end up realizing this is actually a superficial symptom of a deep desire for "inner peace".
Through the process, people often experience themselves getting closer to that state that is more fundamental ("Core State"). Usually this has a very abstract, "spiritual" description such as "Inner Peace" or "Being" or "Oneness" because it's very hard to put into words.
I have to say, having to buy the book (no independent description or studies of the process) and $200 seminars (indoctrination) sets off my "woo" alarm. As does anything mentioning "NLP".
I'm just describing my own path through the material, which started with curiosity, a few google searches, investing $15 for a dead tree book, and after about a year of practice, trying out a one-day seminar (for which, as I mentioned, my results were pretty '-meh-').
And what's woo about Natural Language Processing? ;)
Here is the site: http://coretransformation.org/. The book is very good. There are videos of the sessions on YouTube, but they are not explaining the process.
Sorry, but I have chosen not to reveal the easy answer. I don't want to feel myself responsible for other people harming their health when they are not careful.
Regarding "Leaving clues, marks when switching topics/projects", some helpful tools for me are vim (configured to remember cursor position) and gnu screen.
