There I am…now writing in full screen mode (FSM).
Now, the problem is that my wireless keyboard keeps sliding around on the desk – but only one side of the keyboard.
I’m thinking that there’s something wrong with the rubber feet on one side of the keyboard.
My first thought is that Apple sold me a defective keyboard. “Too bad the warranty period has already expired. I bet Apple intentionally manufactures these keyboards just to last past the warranty period,” I say to myself.
There are a few other, and, might I say angrier, thoughts that followed along down that spiral, but I pulled myself out of it soon enough to move on to thinking that maybe I just need to get some new replacement rubber feet.
“Yeah, but I’ll do that later.” Remember, I’m in FSM so I don’t want anything interrupting my current task.
For days this goes on – me getting frustrated when my keyboard slips and being interrupted by those thoughts of how I can’t / won’t do anything about it.
One day, out of the blue, I had the idea to flip over the keyboard and look more closely at the rubber feet.
What I noticed was that the two feet that were slipping were coated in gunk that had accumulated over several months.
Not to get into a lot of unnecessary details (but kind of to do that), I realized that the reason only the feet on the left side of the keyboard were coated was because the feet on right side had been resting on the mousepad next to the keyboard. (I’m sure there’s an analogy in there somewhere.)
The solution was simple: I used my fingernail to scrape off the gunk from both feet (I know…pretty gross to image, right? Don’t worry, I washed my hands first thing the following morning. 🙂
Voila! The keyboard stays in place and no longer interrupts my writing.
So, you might be wondering, when should I exit full screen mode?
The answer, I’m thinking, is…when something is interfering with your ability to do the task.
Let’s go back to George with his shiny red mower…
As he is making another pass with his mower (yes, ‘pass’ is actually the term that is used here, but it would be weird if he was using his mower to make the other kind of pass)…
George discovers that the side discharge guard of his mower is clogged with grass, resulting in grass buildup, under the carriage, which in turn is causing the mower engine to die frequently.
He could just take this as a sign from the universe that he should just quit and give up on this activity because…’I guess it’s just not meant to be.’
Another option (and a pretty popular one in our current culture) is that he could just ‘push through’ and continue to start the engine each time after it dies, only to repeat this cycle of interruption/frustration/extra effort/exhaustion every few minutes.
Or (and I’m thinking this is the best option), he could go to the garage, get a chisel or large flathead screwdriver, and scrape off the gunky buildup on the underside of the carriage and near the side discharge.
And that’s exactly what George does.
So, now that George is well on his way to finishing that important task of mowing the lawn, let’s talk about Janet.
Janet is dealing with some painful emotions and she’s finding that they’re interfering with her ability to do that thing she loves.
Let’s think of those painful emotions as resulting from some historical gunk.
She might be thinking that there’s something defective with her, or that it’s not meant to be, or she should give up, or she needs to just push through.
I’m thinking that there’s just some gunk that’s accumulated (no, not literally grime on her feet!) that needs to be cleared.
When that gunk is cleared, she notices that there’s no longer the interruption (emotions) that had been there and she’s back to mowing the lawn, or doing whatever the heck else she wants to do.
RRT is an effective tool for clearing away the gunk that builds up over time, and that’s why it’s the primary approach I use in working with clients.
If you’re interested in learning more about what working with me could look like, you can schedule a complimentary consultation with me (via Zoom) by clicking this link.
