Practice Session #11

Thanks for checking out my show notes! I’ll be utilizing this to clarify and elaborate on points that I didn’t convey as well as I would’ve liked to. I’ll also provide links to further information and resources.

Please note that I try to publish episodes on the day of recording (Sundays). However, I may not get to publishing the transcript and show notes until later. I generally will have the transcript and initial notes published on the day after recording (Mondays). From there, I may continue adding and modifying the show notes throughout the week. The episode title will read “Episode [#]” until I go through my first pass of the transcript.

I’ll be interspersing all my notes with the transcription from the audio, which will be displayed like this:

Intro.

[00:00]

CK: Heyo! I’m CK and you’re listening to Practice.This is my podcast where practice is not just the theme of the show, but the whole purpose behind it. I’m using this platform to practice podcasting and to practice speaking in general, while espousing half-thoughts and providing unsolicited advice. Every week I’ll be talking about my experience with this process along with various lifestyle practices, as well as theories and ideas behind the virtue of practice itself.

I’m fortunate to be joined by my practice partner and partner in life, Pam,

Pam: Hello

CK: And don’t hold me responsible for anything I say in this session. I- we’re doing this completely on the fly and it’s more of like a self reflective process. So make sure to check out the show notes at ForcesOfEqual.com/Practice where I’ll go over some of the things I said, let you know what I could have done better and give you some ideas of the thoughts that were going on in my mind at the time.

So today we’re recording. It is May 10th, 2020 and this is our 11th practice session. So we’re winging it again, doing it on a fly. I have no notes to go off of. Of course, we have our three segments that we’re going to work with segments on the practice and freetalking- or no, segments on podcasting, freetalking and practicing.

The latest on my podcasting practice.

[01:53]

CK: So we’ll go ahead and get started with the first segment. This is the segment where I talk about the process with this practice of podcasting.

And like I said, we’re on episode 11. Last week, I mentioned a little something special that we’re going to do in episode 13 and that’s going to be our quarterly review, per se, of this whole Practice project.

So that’s going to be in two weeks. And so any kind of preparation I’m doing for this podcast right now is going towards that review episode. And so for these next prac- Practice sessions, I’m just kind of winging it and putting things on cruise control while we work on the quarterly review session and work on other projects that have spurred on from this one.

So on that note, we just got done recording a session of Not Bad Advice, Pam’s new podcast, and hopefully it will be releasing the first episode soon. Maybe in the next two weeks. How’s that sound?

Pam: That sounds great. Yeah.

CK: We’ll see… Oh wait, so we got the review episode in two weeks and then… we’ll see. We’ll see where it takes us. But yeah, we’re rolling along with that. So things are going well on that front, and I am creating a lot with other projects.

But for this project with Practice, let’s see, where are we at today?

Goals for the past few weeks have been around publishing as soon as possible, or same day. Really by the next day. So I mean, my goal is really to make sure these episodes are up by the next day, but the past two or three weeks, I’ve been getting them up on the same day and I’m fine with doing that. Although the show notes take me an extra day because, you know, I have to listen and go through, correct typos, and put in my own notes and stuff.

So I wait to do those until Monday. But yeah, it seems to be a good workflow for now and it’s working well and I’m not finding any issues with that. Ideally, I’d like to get the show notes out on the same day, but, you know, there’s life and all of the other things that I want to do. So, yeah.

Pam: What’s the benefit to releasing same day and then doing the show notes the next day, instead of just releasing the next day?

CK: Oh, good question. I’m not sure. There’s like something in my mind where I want to get it out on the day that we recorded just for, I don’t know, continuity or it just feels right to get it out. I don’t know. I mean, I guess there’s no real reason, but I mean, the flow that I’m in right now, it’s easy to, you know, end our sessions, and then I actually make my lunch, have my lunch, relax for a little bit, and then get back to processing the audio for the session and then publishing it.

So, I don’t know. The flow works for me. I guess I could wait till the next day, but there’s also something about getting it out on the same day that kind of relieves my anxiety around it, I guess.

Pam: Okay, that makes sense.

CK: Yeah. Um… and you would think that getting the show notes out would help as well, but I haven’t had issues with that. So maybe in the beginning, you know, that might’ve affected me, but now, you know, it’s- I’m fine with going over them the next day.

And I think, you know, getting the audio at the same day helps me get over that anxiety, and then next day I get to reflect on it again with kind of a fresh mind. So it’s beneficial in that sense. So, yeah, I mean, it makes sense for me right now. So just keep on going that way and see how it goes.

Pam: it’s your show. You do you.

CK: And then on the social media front, I’ve been sharing more. I think I’ve shared more this past week, but man, it is so hard to get back in social media. Like, I don’t know if I was ever really addicted to it per se, or, I mean addiction’s kind of a strong term there, but I mean, you know, there’s times, every once in a while where I would just be scrolling through for like a half hour hour or something mindlessly.

And that was years ago. But you know, these days I can’t, you know- I don’t even look at my newsfeed and when I do, there’s nothing that is really, you know, I don’t really take anything away from it.

Pam: It’s not valuable.

CK: Yeah, so I just- I mean, I don’t even look at it anymore. There’s nothing that’s enticing for me.

And, you know, what I mean it’s nice to see what friends are up to and what they’re doing and stuff like that, but there’s just so much noise too, and you know, sharing of random articles or memes or whatnot. And I just have too many other things to do and too many other things I want to learn. So yeah, I mean, I’ve been trying to get more and more back into social media, but the value isn’t there for me.

So right now I’m just focused on sharing what I can and interacting, you know, as much as I can within reason, I guess. I don’t know. I’m like, yeah, I mean, I- I would like to interact more with my friends or what not, but, you know, the medium, there’s just too much noise in there.

So, yeah, uh, maybe I need to strategize a little more around that, but yeah, I don’t find it important enough right now to get so much into social media, but we’ll just keep going how I’m going right now and see how that goes.

And then as you know, other needs come up, I’ll adapt and adjust as necessary. But right now I’m fine with how things are going and you know, we’re just sharing audio grams here and there and I feel like I’m in a good flow, so we’ll just keep that going.

And you know, we’re still experimenting with audio and post-processing and stuff like that. So I think we’re getting more into intermediate or advanced stages of the process. So, before where we were trying to get up and start it as fast as possible with a like a minimum viable product, now where iterating on that process and working out where things could be better and you know, where we could use different tools or different strategies to improve upon things.

So we started out recording on a platform called Squadcast, which is good for podcasting and like doing interviews or talking if people are in different locations.

Pam: if you have a lot of guests.

CK: Yeah. It’s kind of like underlines of Google Hangout or Zoom, and the difference is that they provide really good audio quality and they provide video so you can look at who you’re talking to (Of course Google Hangout and Zoom provide video too. I was thinking of other cloud podcast recording services that don’t offer video). The only thing is they don’t record the video. And there’s like no chat function either, which I know how important that is to people, but it’s nice to be able to communicate without doing it over the audio.

So we started out using Squadcast and it’s a good service. And if we’re talking, you know, minimum viable product, it’s good to get started up right away, and that’s what we used it for. But now we’re actually recording directly onto our own computers. I’m using Audacity and Pam is using GarageBand because she’s on a Mac.

I’m on a PC, and Audacity is also compatible with Macs. But…

Pam: not with the latest version

CK: Yeah, not with the current version, but I’ve been experimenting with more things in Audacity and also other digital audio workstations or DAWs like Ableton, and I’m also looking into pro tools now. So I’m starting to get into the weeds a little bit, a little more advanced.

And this also has to do with the music that I’m getting back into. So the music production. And that’s going well. I’m experimenting with a new music machine or a groovebox or whatever you call it. It’s called an Akai Force, and it’s a standalone electronic music production machine, basically. But the thing is awesome. I’m having so much fun with it, and the only problem is that I don’t have enough time to play with it.

So yeah, things are going well on that end. And you know, we’re getting more and more skilled and knowledgeable with the podcasting pro- process. So yeah, it’s all fun and good and can you think of anything else that we might’ve added on lately?

Pam: Um, no… just turning my little studio here into a blanket fort.

CK: Yeah, we got Pam in like a makeshift blanket fort right now. I got blankets hanging all over- all over the place in my room right now. But yeah, the audio editing is- is getting fun.

And I think the last episode of Practice that our vocal audio quality is a little better. I mentioned two weeks ago, I think I was a little disappointed, or maybe that was last week I was disappointed with the recording two weeks ago, but that’s improved and I’m still learning more. And I learned a few more tips like on YouTube and other articles and message boards and courses for manipulating audio in post.

So. I’m excited to see what we can do with this episode and future episodes. And I’m actually experimenting more with Pam’s new podcast, Not Bad Advice, which is more prepared and it’ll be a little more processed. So it’s fun working with the audio editing on that.

Pam: it’ll be really interesting for me to hear how that sounds, because, um, you know, I’ve been listening to Practice and I always think that you sound great. You sound like CK. Like your voice when we record sounds is exactly like your voice when we’re talking. And then I listened to myself and I’m like, “Oh, I hate how I sound,” and “am I really that squeaky and whiny” and you know, all this stuff.

So it’s, um, it’s really been a practice in, um, accepting how my voice sounds. Because the way- the way I hear it is not the way it sounds when I listened to this show. So…

CK: Yeah, I mean, does anybody like how their own voice sounds when it’s played back though?

Pam: Do you have a problem with yours?

CK: I mean… it’s different. Like you don’t hear yourself the same way that other people hear you, you know? Cause the sound’s being conducted through your bones and your body and everything. So yeah, I mean I’ve gotten a lot more used to my voice after listening to the past episodes – listening back.

But yeah, I- I know what you mean, but I think your voice is fine when we listened back. It’s more like the audio quality, like the- like the mids and lows and the compression, the equalization. But yeah, I mean, I think your voice is fine.

Pam:Thanks. Yeah, I don’t know. Just pointing it out.

CK: Yeah, I get it.

So, yeah, so that’s what’s going on on the podcasting front, and I’m sure I missed something. So make sure to check out the show notes for any additional details or elaboration that I’ll add in afterwards. Again, that’s at ForcesOfEqual.com/Practice.

Freetalking tangent salad based on holons.

[14:44]

CK: And now moving on to the next segment, we’re going on to freetalking, and this is a segment where I practice speaking by making tangent salads…

Is that the right description?

So yeah, we’ll start with a topic and I’ll just riff on it and see where it takes us.

So the past couple of weeks we’ve been talking about spectral potentiality. So our tangent salads have been made with a base of spectral potentiality. And last week we had some toppings of holons.

Pam: Some holon carrots

CK: And this week I was trying to figure out what’s going to come to me, but I think… I guess I’ll just talk about something that came to me this morning.

Pam: Right. Fresh. I like it.

CK: Yeah, we’re just totally going agile, keeping it on the fly. And so it’s still along the lines of spectral potentiality and this whole framework that I’m working on.

And on that note, the progress I’m making with my coaching practice that I want to start up in terms of performing- performance coaching for others. I’ve been making a lot of headway on that in terms of organizing my framework and my planning and the strategy, basically.

And a lot of it’s coming out of this notion of spectral potentiality, and just as a reminder, it’s, you know, just the prospect of having infinite possibilities in any circumstance rather than a fixed solution or a binary spectrum of choice, you know, it’s not yes or no. There’s a lot of in-betweens and even options past the extremes.

So adding onto that, you know, before we talked about, like, the circumstance, like the spectrum of the circumstance as it relates to the systems. So there’s the spectrum of the circumstance. You know, things could be yes or no, or black or white, and the whole spectrum between that and past the ext- extremes.

And then that spectrum is also- there’s a hierarchy that you have to think of that spectrum within your system. So let’s say as a human, there’s that spectrum on the level of yourself.

o let’s think of a more concrete example. So let’s say… okay, so in stoicism, uh, one of the virtues is courage. And so a spectrum of courage, you know, courage is a strength.

This is also related to positive psychology actually. So, you know, obviously you want to have courage, but if there- if you like exhibit an excess of courage. It can, become close or, you know, it approaches the spectrum of recklessness, so you know, too much courage or, you know, obviously when you get down towards the excessive side of the spectrum, it turns into maybe bravado and then eventually recklessness.

Whereas on the other side of the spectrum, you know, not enough courage could be like, what’s the opposite of recklessness? Like timidness or…

Pam: Inactivity really, ’cause you’d be too scared to do anything.

CK: Right. Just fear and timidness (cowardice was what I was looking for, but we were on the right track!).

So, you know, on one hand it’s fine on the level of the human system. So let’s talk about this on the level of the self. Obviously the equilibrium you want to reach- So, okay. Tagent salad: In terms of spectral potentiality, the whole notion of optimization is to sustain a level of equilibrium.

So, you know, we talk about approaching the extremes and testing the boundaries and stuff like that. And if we relate that to the time dimension, it’s good to push ourselves once in awhile and add in that acute stimulus. So let’s take exercise for an example. You know, an acute bout or a short bout of heavy, hard, intense exercise helps you grow.

You get a hormetic response, which means, you know, you basically break down and damage your body and your muscles. Which then come back, repair themselves and come back stronger during the period of rest. So considering the time dimension of this action, if you’re doing hard, heavy, intense exercise for an extended period of time, and you’re sustaining that’s going to put you into the end of over-training and overstressing yourself and potential for injury.

And you know, if you’re always running on high and you’re never getting rest, you’re just gonna burn out.

Pam: You’re constantly in breakdown. You’re never rebuilding.

CK: Right. So sustaining an excess of a strength or value or action is not human- It’s not beneficial.

Pam: It’s not sustainable. It’s not tenable. You can’t do that forever.

CK: Right. Exactly. You’re going to break down.

And same thing on the other end of the spectrum. Sus- sustaining a deficiency is not going to allow you to grow. You’re just going to either be complacent or deteriorate, basically.

So you want- over time, over the dimension of time, you’re going to want to sustain some sort of equilibrium between the extremes.

So you know, that even relates to regression to the mean in economics, as well as the golden mean in Aristotelian philosophy. As well as I’m sure there’s other similar and familiar analogies that are escaping my mind right now, but it’s the notion of balance, the notion of equilibrium, homeostasis, and that’s related to the spectrum or dimension of time.

So, I don’t know if I’m articulating this well, but there’s all these things that are affecting the system. So again, you know, we’re talking about complex systems and it’s- I don’t, like, want to overwhelm people with all these possibilities or all these thoughts or all these potential circumstances or answers or possibilities.

But, I think- I mean, someone needs to, because so many people are, are on such are just on one track or you know, so narrow-minded and not enough about all the different possibilities,

Pam: Maybe they haven’t been exposed to the idea that there are all of these possibilities, which is what you’re trying to do.

CK: Right. Exactly. Exactly. So hopefully. I did a little of that in the session.

Pam: So what was the idea that you had this morning specifically? Cause you just went into your tangent salad, but what was the…

CK: Okay. So I’m kind of crystalizing the framework around spectral potentiality now, and I know I keep talking about dimensions, and I’m not sure if the language is right. You know, I’m still trying to figure out all this, and… and also, you know, as I’m coming up with all this stuff in connecting all these different concepts, I’m finding that, you know, I’m becoming more conf- confident talking about it because I’m finding all these patterns and theories that are already out there that are similar or match in some way or support my theory.

And so with spectral potentiality, the framework I have right now is kind of like on a three dimensional level. So the first dimension is the awareness dimension. And this is- the spectrum is for lack of better terminology right now, the awareness spectrum is between mechanical awareness and mindful awareness.

So this could also relate to the system one system, two cognition, where mechanical awareness is more of like your primitive automatized reactions. And the mindful awareness is more system two: thought out, reasoned consciousness, you know, executive function and stuff like that.

So there’s that dimension. The second dimension is the systems dimension. So you think about the awareness dimension on a systems scale. So awareness as you, as yourself and your own system. And then there’s also awareness you have to think about as the systems above you – so let’s say the social system.

So when you’re taking awareness between mechanical and mindfulness awareness, you can consider that on your level as well as the level of the collective. So let’s see, can we come up with like an example…

I mean we were talking about it before with the whole collectivistic versus individualistic societies and stuff like that where you know, awareness on your own level is more like the individualistic self. And whether you’re thinking mechanically or mindfully is going to affect you one way. But then awareness on the societal level, on a collective level, what do you think about that mechanically or mindfully is going to affect the society on a different way.

And then the third dimension is the time dimension. So how the awareness across mechanical in mindful awareness and the systems across, you know, subsystems and supersystems, how those proceed over time.

So yeah, it gets pretty complicated when I just verbalize it, and I know I’ve been talking about some sort of visual examples or Instagram or something like that. Maybe I’ll do that this week because I do have to clear off my whiteboard, ’cause it’s just all jumbled right now. So maybe I’ll put up a shot of the whiteboard as it is now and try to help explain some of this.

But it’s basically those three dimensions, dimensions of awareness, dimensions of the systems, and dimensions of this- of the time.

Pam: Okay.

CK: So awareness system, and time. And considering all those, and the spectral potentiality between those is kind of an overall broad view framework for like a rational mindset.

So I don’t know if that makes sense. That just kind of came out right now. And I would- I can’t wait to listen back to this and see what I think of what I just said. But I feel pretty comfortable with that and it’s starting to crystallize even more in my head as I’m talking about it.

So what do you think?

Pam: I think it’s getting clearer. I’ve been listening to you talk about this for a long time now, and you’re- it seems like you’re starting to crystallize it and get it into a format that is, um, explainable and that I can see making sense to other people and having value in, uh, them approaching decisions that they’re making or questions about their own lives, um, by taking those three dimensions into consideration and, you know, helping them. So…

CK: Cool. Yeah. I think the sticking point is like the dimensional visualization and the relationships between the dimensions, so I just have to get better at explaining that and connecting those and figuring out the language to use.

Pam: I think if you come up with some examples, then that will be helpful.

CK: Yeah. And yeah, I could definitely do that. And I think I’m getting better at doing it on the fly now, so yeah. So we’ll just keep going along, see how that goes.

But I think that was freetalking for this week.

Practicing the practice, and other practices.

[28:36]

CK: And now we’re moving on to the third segment, third and last segment of the practice. So talking about the practice and other practices, and so, huh… What did we talk about last week? Do you remember? Oh, so we were talking about, like, structure and scheduling and the sleep wake cycle and rhythms and stuff like that.

So, I guess we could talk about that- Keep talking about that. And on those lines, I want to kind of reveal the process that I’ve been going through over the past week. So I’ve- I’m still iterating my schedule, and it’s- it’s interesting because I’m doing more creative work now. Whereas before, I mean, I would like to think the stuff that I was doing was creative, but it was more on a strategic level, more analytical, and so I had a specific system that I used that was basically formed on top of the Pomodoro technique.

So have we talked about the Pomodoro technique before?

Pam: I don’t think we have.

CK: Okay, so it’s basically like a timing scheduling technique where you use a timer. And when I was doing more strategic and analytical work, I was using the timer at 25 minutes sessions. So I would do four 25 minute sessions with a five minute break in between and after four of them, I take a long break, about 15 to 30 minutes.

And this is just a way to kind of create boundaries on your productivity time or your work time for better productivity.

Pam: It allows you to focus for a specific amount of time. So you’re not like sitting down and going, “Oh, I have to work for the next four hours” and then you check social media and check your email and, like, do a whole bunch of stuff. It, like, focuses in your time. Like, you know, I’m just going to work for 25 minutes and then I get a break.

CK: Right, exactly. So it kind of helps you get more in within the 25 minutes and then the break helps you come back, get out of it, and kind of regenerate and put your brain into a different mode. Generally, it’s the default mode network that gets activated, and this is the system in your brain where you are more- so the default mode network becomes active when you’re not doing anything and when you’re not really thinking about anything actively.

So like even when you’re not doing anything, your brain is still operating and functioning and outputting on the same level as if you were doing something. It’s just using different regions of your brain. And you know, there’s still a lot of speculation on what your brain is doing during this default mode network activation time.

But there’s a lot of speculation that it could be, you know, time that your brain takes for self-reflection and to kind of reconsolidate stuff that you were thinking about before. So it’s good to get these regular periods of rest for your brain – rest, per se – when you’re working on something for an extended period of time.

So, you can- just like what we were talking about with exercise- excuse me- is, you know, you need that period of rest to grow your muscles and regenerate and you know, you can’t just- you know, that time dimension in spectral potentiality, there has to be a level of mindfulness on the sustainability of what you’re doing.

And you know, if you’re just trying to work on something for four hours straight, you’re not going to be as productive and efficient as if you are if you get proper breaks in between to refresh your mind, regenerate and be more productive. So, it’s something to think about when you’re setting your schedule and when you’re working is to take regular breaks.

Personally, I would recommend at least taking one five minute break every hour, and for me- so when I was doing more analytical work and strategic work, I was doing the 25 minute Pomodoro sessions with the five minute break in between and then a 15 minute break after four sessions. Now, I’m doing 45 minute sessions because I’m finding with doing the creative work, I need a little more time, and the 25 minutes was a little too disruptive for me, so it took me out of the flow a little bit.

So with 45 minutes, it seems to be a pretty good sweet spot for me. I was experimenting between an hour and 45 minutes while I was experimenting between 25 minutes and an hour and landed on 45 – in between. And that seems to be working good for me now.

So I just- random tangent: that it’s weird because that relates to the equilibrium or regression to the mean. When I went from 25 to 55 and now I’m at 45 so just interesting sidebar there.

So yeah. So I guess that’s just another example of where a spectral potential- spectral potentiality can be a useful framework for even determining your scheduling or your productivity processes.

And that just happened to work hand in hand with today’s session. So what do you think about that, Pam?

Pam: That sounds good. I have never been able to stick with the Pomodoros but I use you as my timer, so…

CK: And that seems to work out well.

Pam: Yeah. It’s alright.

Outro.

[35:05]

CK: So I think that’s it for this week. Do you have anything else that you want to say?

Pam: No, I’m all good.

CK: All right, well, again. Don’t hold me responsible for everything I say in these sessions. Make sure to check out the show notes where I’ll go through and make corrections and, you know, write up what I’m thinking at the time.

And yeah, so check those out at forces a ForcesOfEqual.com/Practice and that’s all for this week. So hope you’ll come back next week and keep on practicing.

Too-da-loo! ✌️