Concept
The daily mind check
The daily mind check is two minutes at a fixed time each day with the operating notes: backward, one reaction from today run through the questions; forward, tomorrow's one flow block and the one situation likely to produce a hijack, with the reply chosen in advance. Short on purpose, to keep the page warm.
A practice that takes twenty minutes is abandoned within a week; one that takes two survives, and survival is the point, since the page only works if it is warm when the reflex comes. Backward: where did today's reaction come from, what was the feeling, what was the story, was the space used? Forward: what is tomorrow's one block with a goal, feedback and a challenge, and which meeting, message or dinner is likely to hijack me, and what will I say instead? The check needs a time and a place, the metro, the coffee, the desk before the laptop opens, because Kahneman's warning applies: nobody remembers to be reflective in the moment. Like David Allen's weekly review for a task system, it is the maintenance that keeps the whole apparatus trusted, and the rule is Haidt's: judge the month, not the morning, because you remain an elephant with a rider.
A real-life example
The check is at eight-fifteen on the metro: one reaction from yesterday, one flow block for today, one likely hijack with the reply chosen. On Thursday the director dismisses the report in front of the team, and the reply chosen that morning is the one that gets said.
How to use it
- 1Fix the two minutes to a time and a place you pass through every day.
- 2Backward: one reaction, through the questions. Forward: one flow block, one likely hijack, the reply chosen.
- 3Keep it for four weeks before judging whether it works.