Focused Work and Dental Work

Journal Entries From The Philippines

Today, I had one of my teeth removed.

This is hopefully the only time that I will need to have a tooth removed in a foreign country, but I’m still young, so who knows.

Because of this tooth situation, writing this letter was shifted down in priority.

But I’m here now.

Did you know that I write in my journal every day? Like, every single day.

It has been a fantastic 10-minute habit for clearing my mind, understanding my life and working through problems.

I was thinking about it: since I’m already writing thousands of words each week, and because there are plenty of shining gems uncovered, I should just share some of those gems with you.

It will make it easier to write my newsletter, if I just share snippets of my journal entries with you.

And because it is unfiltered, you will get a raw feed of what I’m thinking about in my day to day life.

So, today, I am going to crack open my journal from the past week, and share a few stories, lessons, frameworks, and metaphors.

Journal Prompts

  • What was I trying to do?

  • What actually happened?

  • Why?

  • How did you feel?

  • If the day were 10X better, how would you feel?

Context: I’m going to start experimenting with these journal prompts, instead of just writing whatever comes to mind in the morning. The plan is to quickly answer all 5 of the questions one after another.

Jet Metaphor

“I need to make some changes.

I should be flying like a jet in the sky, but instead, I am sitting in the hangar with fuel leaking from my tank.

So let's make some repairs and taxi ourselves to the runway.”

Conducive Work Environments

After moving to a new airbnb in a provincial area, I realized that my previous accommodations haven’t been great for my productivity.

“I feel a great sense of peace here. It's nice to have my own place with more privacy. Having multiple floors is fantastic; it allows me to easily segment my focus. For instance, if I need a break from work, I can leave the room and go somewhere else, like downstairs. This separation of space is something I'm realizing is quite important.”

“I'm pleased that I'm making my surroundings more conducive to work.”

“I've decided: when I get my own place, it must have a dedicated office. It'll make it much easier to focus on work and then truly disconnect when needed.”

Focusing On Work

“It's interesting to compare the last two days of time spent focused on my work.

Yesterday, I spent more time focused, and I completed all of my work in about 6 hours. Whereas today I was “focused“ for just under 4 hours, even though I was technically working or doing something similar for about 9 hours.

It really does reflect how important it is to be rigid with your breaks and very protective of the time you spend working.

This is something that I know to be true, but it's a lesson that I continue to learn. It's why I'm shaping my routine completely around the idea of starting work from the very beginning of the day.”

Context: I’ve shifted around my routine, so that I am starting my day by immediately beginning work on my most important tasks, instead of following my standard morning routine.

When it is time to be productive:

“There is no room to be letting my focus and attention wander. “

Dental Work In The Philippines (Part 1: The Consultation)

“I went to a dentist, earlier. Let me just explain how easy and cheap it was…

I showed up to a random clinic in a mall without an appointment. I stood there in the front for a few minutes and then a lady came out. I said: “meron ako masakit dito” while pointing at my cheek. Translates to “I have pain here”.

They took me into the back and checked me out and immediately said that the tooth causing me pain needs to be pulled. All good with me. It is in the very back and I can barely chew with it.

So I paid 500 pesos ($9) for a consultation, 1000 pesos ($18) for x rays. Once the pain has went down a bit, she can pull it. They scheduled an appointment for Sunday @10 AM. The extraction will cost $18 but possibly more, if it is difficult.

She prescribed me some pain medication (like ibuprofen) and antibiotics. I took the prescription and walked 3 doors down to the pharmacy, stood in line for 2 minutes, handed it to the lady behind the counter. They filled it right there in front of me, so within 1 minute I had my medication. It cost 135 pesos ($2.50) for the pain meds and antibiotics.

So all in all, it is going to cost me $50-60 to have all of this done. Without insurance.”

Dental Work In The Philippines (Part 2: The Extraction)

“I'm currently recovering from having one of my rear molars extracted. Man oh man, that was so painful. I didn't realize how bad the tooth looked, and even worse how MASSIVE it was. It had four knobbly roots. The dentists hands were shaking because she was squeezing so hard. Without doubt, this was one of the most challenging teeth for her to remove. Because it was quite a bit more difficult to extract, it ended up costing 3k PHP (including a cleaning, as well).

But while it was being removed, it was so painful that I thought I might pass out. I just wanted some kind of relief. They gave me Novocain at least 5 times. It still wasn't enough. I was sweating so hard and despite my best efforts, I had tears building up in my eyes. One of the dental assistants was holding my head. It was really comforting.

I walked around a bit, hoping that the pain would go down. The pain took a long time to go down and even now, it doesn't feel very good at all. I stopped by the drug store to get some more medication - it is a slightly stronger NSAID, but it definitely isn't as strong as I want it to be. After that, I went to the market and bought some of the basic recovery items and things that I could eat without chewing. Ice cream, yes, ice cream. Powdered milk and also a couple of yogurt drinks. Also bought some sugar free Sprite.

Then I went home, ate all of the ice cream. Yes, all of the ice cream. I haven't had ice cream in a very long time, and it seemed to help a bit, so I'm fine with it. Then I went and took a nap. I slept for almost 4 hours. Thank goodness I woke up before the sun went down, it always messes up my circadian rhythm, if I don't

At least the pain has gone down a bit. Sheesh. I've swapped out the cotton a few times, each time it comes out it is a bit less bloody.”

Don’t let criticism prevent you from being successful

“Just finished listening to the book, "The Fish That Ate The Whale".

It is about Sam Zemuri and it was truly inspiring. I see many of his traits in myself, though they remain latent, as I've been hesitant to put myself in the same situations he did.

I think the reason he was so much more successful than I am at this point in my life is because he wasn't afraid of criticism. He was okay with it, and as a result, he accomplished a great many things that led to him being admired by many.

The lesson here is that you can't let the fear of criticism prevent you from reaching the people who will admire you.”

Thank you for reading today’s letter. I hope you found these entries to be interesting.

Have a great week.

-Cliff