What was your first thought as you powered on/opened up your computer today?
Practice along with us. Read a short description of how to participate in The Mindfulist.
46 Responses to “Power On”
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[...] Mindfulist 1/4: Power On January 5, 2010 Jeff Hamm Leave a comment Go to comments Yesterday’s prompt from the Mindfulist: [...]
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[...] list onto a vision board just isn’t enough. I have to have a plan. I’m working on that.Starting the day. When I pop open my ‘puter first thing in the morning, I’m rarely checking what’s [...]
5. January 2010 at 2:04 am
Opening up my computer has become such a task that doesn’t get me think much. To be honest, either I don’t remember what my first thought as I opened up my computer was or I actually didn’t have any thought. But as I think about this prompt, there are many other things that I do without being mindful – before starting to write this comment, I had a cup of coffee besides me. Now it’s gone. I drank it as I wrote the first half of the comment. Was I aware of the taste of the coffee? I can feel it in my mouth, but I didn’t pay much attention to it while drinking.
I’m looking forward to the prompts to come!
5. January 2010 at 2:33 am
I thought about how I shouldn’t be turning on my computer at all! I should instead be cooking French toast for my husband for lunch before we go to work today. But, social media calls my name!
5. January 2010 at 3:39 am
Yay! I am so excited to be part of this project. Great first post, by the way, that is definetly not a moment that I would of give much thought until now. Happy New Year!
Jess
http://www.coffeeandbluejeans.com/2010/power-on-to-my-2010-resolutions/
5. January 2010 at 3:46 am
Hmmm… I power up my computer first thing in the morning when I wake up. I don’t really think about much when I first wake up. I just grab some coffee or tea and read some blogs until the caffeine starts to kick in and my brain starts to function.
5. January 2010 at 4:23 am
“Please god, let there be fewer than 300 emails.”
My prayer was answered. I had 173 after being out of the office for 8 days. The mere thought of email overload at work keeps me near-addicted to checking my account … but not to the point of linking that email to my phone. It also makes me dread coming back from vacation. Had it not been a holiday week, I would have easily had 300+ messages to sort through. It feels like such a waste of my brain. Overwhelm is the word.
I wish I had an assistant who could screen and sort email for me: this is spam. this isn’t for Lynn but for someone else. and here are the 15 emails out of 173 that Lynn needs to deal with. I’ve thought about writing in my out-of-office message that I will not answer any emails sent to me between date A and date B, so it puts the onus on the sender to find the answer to their question from someone else (I’m usually the one who goes the extra mile to find the answer, and people take advantage). But that feels unprofessional. Or maybe, I worry that people will not like me if I actually took back my time and energy in that way.
5. January 2010 at 4:26 am
Each morning when I sit down and power up my computer, I have one thought and one thought only: I wish I had a Mac. Thankfully, Windows allows me plenty of time to really ponder it.
5. January 2010 at 4:47 am
Huh, I have absolutely no idea. I open and close my laptop so many times a day that very few conscious thoughts are processed in that action.
I look forward to considering my thoughts while opening my computer tomorrow morning!
5. January 2010 at 5:03 am
Which one? When I opened my home computer early in the morning, my first thought actually was to look for this site, but the link wasn’t posted on Gwen’s blog yet. I was quickly distracted by other things. Later, when I started up my computer at work, I remember having a deep sense of foreboding. Then I went to get tea.
(The foreboding hung around despite the tea, but it serves a purpose – it’s trying to tell me that however the question might best be articulated, my current career path isn’t the answer.)
5. January 2010 at 5:10 am
“I hope this piece of shit boots up on the first try tonight”
5. January 2010 at 5:28 am
My first thought was “I don’t know why I am opening my computer right now. I don’t have time to actually read and deal with email right this second. I will read my email on my iPhone and get to it all a bit later.” I was in the middle of getting the kids ready for school, cleaning up a mess the new puppy had made and getting my stuff together for a work meeting. I really enjoyed the email holiday…I didn’t have a computer holiday, since I worked very hard on completing Gwen’s #best09 project – one of my highlights of the year, it turns out
5. January 2010 at 5:42 am
My first thought, at my computer this morning, was something along the lines of “Am I ready to check my email yet? Or should I wait and actually get something done before I get sucked down the rabbit hole?” Very often, I start on the internet through Gmail (my gateway drug) and before I know it, it’s been a hour and I haven’t gotten anything substantial (or otherwise) done. I can tell myself that reading about all the cool things other people are doing is inspiring, and it is, to a point, but it’s also just my way of self-sabotage/procrastination.
5. January 2010 at 6:31 am
My first thought as i opened my computer today is to find a job that will cover my expenses until my business materialized.. =)
5. January 2010 at 6:42 am
I love (love!) this idea, Gwen! And I think you’re the coolest! (<–true story!)
My first thought this a.m. was, "Gosh, what more can I mess up?" I've been severely procrastinating and am feeling like there's some sort of a black cloud following me… waiting for me to keep putting stuff off until something really bad happens
I'm not sure what this is about, either… usually I'm pretty engaged in my work. Hmm.
5. January 2010 at 6:47 am
Was I thinking? I don’t think so. I was feeling both dread and boredom, as one does in that interval in the dentist’s chair between topical anesthetic and the xylocaine injection.
5. January 2010 at 8:26 am
My first thought was, “How long do I have before my 10 month old wakes up?”. My second thought was, “I really should be working on my thesis amendments rather than reading blogs!’.
5. January 2010 at 9:21 am
Pfff wow here goes me being mindful. I go absolutely blank on this question but will definately try to be more mindful tomorrow.
Eve
http://evefm.wordpress.com
5. January 2010 at 9:27 am
No idea, I am drawing a complete blank so here goes me being mindful.
Eve
http://evefm.wordpress.com
5. January 2010 at 10:43 am
When I turned my laptop on this morning, all I could think about was all the revision I have to do before next week when my exams start
5. January 2010 at 10:56 am
This is going to be fun!
http://mjwalters.typepad.com/blog/2010/01/power-up.html
5. January 2010 at 12:36 pm
I was wondering if I had any new comments waiting for me. What can I say, my site is for my own enjoyment, BUT…reading new comments first thing in the morning is always VERY nice
5. January 2010 at 1:53 pm
My first thought was, “what is that noise?”. My fanbelt starting making a squeaking sound. I guess it was having a hard time cranking into gear after 2 weeks vacation, as am I.
5. January 2010 at 2:07 pm
“I wonder if anyone’s commented on my latest blog post.”
During the week I power up at work…reply to work e-mails and then move on to the important business of my personal life.
Am so looking forward to participating.
5. January 2010 at 2:31 pm
Honestly, I don’t think I think too much of anything when I open the computer. My routine is to come down to the office, open the computer, then head off to the kitchen to start the kettle and grab some breakfast while it gathers the mail and tweets from overnight. When I did actually sit down to it a few minutes later this morning, though, I was wondering if I had a reply to a question I sent yesterday on a project, so anticipation, I guess. An eagerness to get on with the day.
5. January 2010 at 2:42 pm
My first thought was about the email I had to send to a client.
5. January 2010 at 3:23 pm
“I am going to kick ass today at my job.”
Said levelly and calmly.
But with 100% conviction.
5. January 2010 at 3:30 pm
Sweet Jesus…I do not want to be sitting at this damn desk all day. This is not what I want my life to be about…sitting in a cubicle with grey walls and no windows. I so need to get my crap together and live the creative life I was meant to live. Cubicle hell is no kind of existence.
5. January 2010 at 3:38 pm
As it was my first day back at work from my 10 day holiday break, I thought: I wonder what awaits me in this new decade… turns out it was a lot of spam, but I’m hopeful that things can only go up from there.
5. January 2010 at 4:39 pm
This is a very interesting question. I usually think my best in the mornings so I try to write something creative first thing in the morning. If I’m working on a longer piece of fiction, I’ll think about what I wrote the day before and sometimes I get some answers when I’m asleep.
5. January 2010 at 5:22 pm
Gwen, thanks for being the bell of mindfulness for all of us.
5. January 2010 at 6:03 pm
Do I have time for this? Is this a way of making myself late again?
5. January 2010 at 6:17 pm
The computer was never turned off last night–only in sleep mode. I think my first thought was something along the lines of being excited (never know who is going to email!) and promising myself that this would just be a quick check. Spending too much time on the computer early in the morning seems to put me on the Grumpy Train for the rest of the day.
5. January 2010 at 6:23 pm
I wonder if Jessica Watson updated & how is the Southern Ocean treating her? She is a mindful 16 y/o woman on a very cool & mindful journey. Nice to follow the pink light. Great writer too w/ 300+ comments per post!
5. January 2010 at 6:49 pm
Hope this doesn’t make me late but I REALLY need to sync and catch up on my fave podcasts.
5. January 2010 at 7:23 pm
My first thought was something along the lines of, “I feel pretty darn good today. I am sick. I am tired. I feel good. Interesting and… cool!”
Mari, I love your thought,
“‘I am going to kick ass today at my job.’” Said levelly and calmly. But with 100% conviction.
I am going to post that next to my computer and make sure it is in the first 10 or thoughts tomorrow!
Thanks to you, and of course, thanks to Gwen.
5. January 2010 at 8:11 pm
First thought – will I be able to read all the posts I marked for the last couple of days? I didn’t have time recently and I keep waiting for some extra hour
5. January 2010 at 8:12 pm
“Power On”
It can be taken in so many ways in my life. That I’m discovering a hidden wellspring of power that wasn’t yet accessible to me until now in considering these new possibilities ahead of me. A switch being flicked illuminating a hallway that is a bit scary to walk but may lead me to the most beautiful location I’ve ever known.
5. January 2010 at 8:25 pm
I don’t know what it was, but it should have been “be productive”. A computer is like a bookstore in which I can wander aimlessly for hours.
5. January 2010 at 8:58 pm
Physically, I don’t even open my computer – it’s already on and my email is showing. Normally I’m constantly checking my emails throughout the day. Even if I wake up in the middle of the night and get a drink of water, I’ll pass the computer to see if anything new has shown up…
Now that I think about it, I don’t like this habit I’ve developed at all!
5. January 2010 at 11:16 pm
I don’t know…I will see tomorrow morning when I wake up.
6. January 2010 at 12:12 am
The first thought I had when I opened my computer was woohoo! A fresh year and a lot of new experiences lie ahead, starting with these first few words I type…
6. January 2010 at 1:07 am
What day is it?
6. January 2010 at 1:25 am
“I hope it hasn’t rebooted over night because of that glitch” [and stopped all my downloads... which it had]
6. January 2010 at 2:43 am
I’m going to reply all email, finish all works, and read more stuffs —> no, actually, i didnt think about anything, I feel pretty blank at the time
13. January 2010 at 11:43 pm
My first thoughts are “How are my friends. What new and wonderful thing am I going to learn/experience/laugh at/immerse myself in?”
My computer is my loving/loved obedient and esteemed servant.