Mind-Wired

To-do lists, flow states, and type two fun

I just started reading The Running Ground by Nicholas Thompson and I’m already loving his writing about running, but one sentence in particular caught my eye:

But I spend most of my day at a desk, mind-wired to my to-do list.

Mind-wired - what a great image! I keep my to-do list in a college-ruled notebook. I cross things off as I go and re-write the list at different frequencies depending on the complexity of my day and week. If the list is too messy, my brain can’t cope. If I don’t have my list, my brain can’t cope. The last thing I do on a Friday is write my new list for the following week. This version of mind-wired keeps me organized and prevents me from ruminating on work outside of my working hours.

You may have guessed by the “but” that Thompson is contrasting his desk hours to the freedom of being on a run. And let’s be honest, I’d always rather be out on a run too. BUT, the longer I can go without looking at my to-do list, the happier I am - because I’m most likely immersed in a task that has completely captured my attention. For me, this usually happens when I’m developing something new (piece of code or writing, presentation deck, etc.). The effort of creation smoothes out the mind-wires and their static energy. My lower back doesn’t love me not moving for an hour or more, but the flow state is just like the one you can find on a run.

The to-do list presents a dichotomy that reminds me of how I viewed my job when I first started working full time after college. A couple weeks in I thought: I only get two days completely my own each week for the next…45 years?!?! It felt more than a bit oppressive. I knew that wasn’t a good long term strategy and I was able to shift that mindset fairly easily, but shaking the mental image of my to-do list as a sword hanging over my head is more of an ongoing project. The mind-wires can either feel like bars to a cell or the path to some fun, depending on the job and task.

As a runner, the idea of type two fun is an important part of my vocabulary and it functions so well with desk work. Maybe completing the more onerous parts of the to-do list aren’t fun even after they’re done, but the relief of accomplishing them is real. Understanding the different types of “fun” on my to-do list helps me balance out my days and weeks so that sword-over-the-head feeling isn’t quite so strong.

Conceptualizing my relationship to time spent at work and to my to-do list through type two fun, mind-wires, etc. helps me be more at peace with the allocation of my 24 daily hours - even when I’d love to spend just a bit more of that time running.

How do you conceptualize your relationship to working time and your to-do list? How did you develop it and how has it changed over time?