If you spend any part of your day searching for information on the internet, you will be aware that most sites you visit are set up to leave a cookie in your web browser.

What Is A Cookie?

It’s a piece of data a website you visit puts in your browser so it can remember you when you visit again.

The information it leaves varies but sometimes it can be little more than the URL of the website.

Why Do They Do It?

This technique has a number of benefits for both the site on and for you the searcher.

But for the sake of my illustration the cookie does no more than remember that you have been to the site before and it is able to quickly serve up the URL in the search results next time round and get you back to where you left off.

By doing so the site gets your attention. It can save you time. Cookies are like a gentle reminder.

What About Your Mental Browser?

Have you ever had the situation where you are working on a project and then some unrelated thought or idea comes into your mind, into your awareness.

This distraction could be the result of a phone call or email and your mind starts off down a new path.

But it is equally likely that it could be caused by a past event or conversation that has left a ‘mental cookie’ in your subconscious mind.

And for some reason your subconscious decides to bring into your awareness even though you know you should be focused elsewhere.

If the new thought – your mental cookie – is strong enough it can be hours and even days before you realize or remember where your thoughts should have been. The longer it goes on the stronger this mental cookie becomes.

Hold that thought…

Back To The Internet Browser:

It’s said to be good practice to clear the cookies and browsing history from your internet browser at the end of each day or at worst once a week.

And all it takes is a click on a couple of buttons to make that happen.

But how many of us do that?

I have to admit it isn’t one of my habits.

What About Our Mental Browser?

Unfortunately these mental cookies or should we call them distractions can’t be wiped away at the click of a button.

We need to adopt a different approach. So how do we do it?

First off we need a plan of where we are aiming to get to in life. This plan ideally will cover all areas of your life – happiness, health and wealth.

Once you have a plan you have a reference point.

So although you can’t delete your mental cookies, by focusing or should I say refocusing on your plan on a daily basis you can reinstall the the right cookies – awareness that relates to your plan.

In my world I have achieved this by creating a document of bullet points that I call My Daily ReFocus.

And I have made it a habit to refer to at the start of each day with the aim of cancelling out any distractions – cookies from yesterday – and getting right back on track with my plan.

Why not put some time aside yourself and create your own Daily ReFocus and start your day anew – each day?

“Habits Control Our Lives – But We Control Our Habits
Take Back Control of Your Life”

Filed under: Habits • Self-Improvement