The system I chose to reverse for 24 hours was the system I use to go to the bathroom. I decided that for one whole day, I would only pee outside (bowel movements would still be done indoors). This was a large inconvenience, especially being someone who drinks a lot of coffee. For example, I had to be careful about how much liquid I drank before bed, because I wanted to avoid having to go outside in the 20 degree weather at 2am.  I took a photo of where I relieved myself each time I went outdoors. and these four photos combine to make a visually interesting overall summary of my experience.

I chose to flip the system of how I got dressed and how I decided to what to wear for the day. One morning, I woke up when my alarm sounded, blindfolded myself, and dug through my closet and dresser drawers. This is the product, and this is what I wore for the remainder of the day.

10. Forgetting to look at emails

Problem: I seem to have developed a spam filter in my head, allowing me to glaze over emails I receive that do not particularly pertain to me. Although this is usually beneficial, I occasionally miss emails that were important because I did not read them thoroughly.

Solution: I decided to spend a day analyzing the text of every email I received. (Only 6 in total). I opened the email, read it, found the parts of the text that stood out to me as the most important and pulled them aside. I personally prefer when ideas are expressed visually, so I decided to create a visual representation of each email.  I googled the key phrases in the text, pulled the results off of  google images, and collaged the images together in photoshop to create a visual version of the email. I then replied to the email with this image.

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FW: Temperatures dropping

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Post-Odyssey Survey

1. Getting out of bed

Input: Snooze Button

Output: Awake

Feedback: How long did it take me to get up?

Change: Set no alarm, stress of having no alarm got me out of bed right away.

2. Showering 

Input: Me (dirty)

Output: Me (clean)

Feedback: Do I feel clean/ do I look clean?

Change: No shower, use time for breakfast instead.

3. Getting dressed 

Input: Clothing, anxiety

Output: Me (with clothes on )

Feedback: How many times did I change in the process?

Change: Put on the first thing I see.

4. Making the Bed

Input: Messy bed

Output: Neat bed

Feedback: Did I come home to a neat bed?

Change: Make bed later, would rather be on time.

5. Doing Dishes

Input: Dirty dishes

Output: Clean dishes

Feedback: Do I have dishes to eat off of?

Change: Don’t do dishes, someone else can this time.

6. Forget Breakfast

Input: Poor time management and priorities

Output: I am hungry at school

Feedback: Do I need to buy something to eat at school?

Change: Make and eat breakfast.

7. Driving to School

Input: Lazy, $$$

Output: At school in 5 mins

Feedback: Did I get to class on time?

Change: Leave earlier, walk.

8. Cigarette on the way to school 

Input: Camel Blue

Output: Habit/ craving filled

Feedback: Does this make me feel good in the long run?

Change: Left cigarettes at home for the day.

9. Be a couple minutes late to class

Input: Poor time management

Output: Final grade in first class of the day drops due to lates

Feedback: Why am I late today?

Change: Wore a watch that was 5 minutes fast- no longer late.

10. Forget to check email

Input: 2 email addresses, so much junk mail

Output: Miss potentially important things

Feedback: How can I make sure I read my email?

Change: Spend a day responding to every email I get

I chose to basically become an animal for one day, or at least communicate like one. I realized that knowing how to speak in the same language as the person you’re talking to was a huge advantage. Sure, body language and gestures may get your point across, but it tends to lead to misunderstandings, frustrations, and awkward moments. My experience reminded me of the Tower of Babel affair and the reason the tower was never completed. Once all the laborers spoke different languages and couldn’t communicate with one another, the tower became a disaster. I found that not being able to talk meant I was often left out of conversations and I was able to slip away quickly and quietly without anyone noticing. If I wasn’t with a group of friends, I would go unnoticed. It was as if I had lost my “voice” in this world. And I basically did. With my voice removed, I learned from this exercise that if I didn’t speak my mind, get my ideas across, reach out to people, it’s really easy to be brushed aside.

Another side effect which I found interesting was that when I did make sounds, the sounds tended to be contagious. My friends around me would also start acting silly and bark or meow back and soon we would just become a band of animals.

After the whole experience, I thought it would be really funny if this way of communicating could really become another “language”. I created a spreadsheet/instructions manual to teach other people how to “talk in animal” so they would be able to understand my “language” as well.

Communication

Waking Up

Going to Sleep

Calling Mom

Getting Dressed

Eating

Learning a new song on the ukulele

Deciding to get a haircut

Homework

Panic Attack

1) Skating as transportation (I skate pretty much everywhere instead of walking)

Input: Need to go somewhere

Output: Arriving quickly

Feedback: Being able to skate faster, deal with obstacles

Change: Walk everywhere

2)Drinking coffee

Input: Being busy and an insomniac leading to lack of sleep

Output: Feeling like I can function much better

Feedback: Figuring out the optimal amount of coffee to have in a day

Change: Keep detailed records of my coffee consumption and plan exact times to consume it

3) Djing parties

Input: Wanting to make people dance and enjoy themselves/myself

Output: People enjoying the music/enjoying the music myself

Feedback: Improving music choice and mixing ability

Change: Mix only genres of music that I’ve never played live before

4) Working with spray paint

Input: Wanting to produce large spray paint pieces

Output: Making pieces I like

Feedback: Practicing can control, improving technique, letting medium dictate concepts

Change: Only spray paint with the can upside down

5) Dealing with stress/intense life events

Input: Feeling stressed or “bad”

Output: Feeling better

Feedback: Improving general mental wellness by letting go of things, not procrastinating

Change: Stop drinking, only deal with things using meditation

6) Dealing with insomnia

Input: Not being able to sleep

Output: Finally sleeping

Feedback: Figuring out better ways to fall asleep reliably

Change: Only use melatonin instead of other substances, shut off all electronics an hour before bed

7) Staying in touch with parents

Input: Parents want to talk fairly often

Output: Parents are happy, I get to not be separated from my family

Feedback: Plan certain times to talk

Change: Video chat with parents in the middle of the week (when I would normally least want to)

8) How I carry things I need

Input: Needing to transport items

Output: Having access to many things

Feedback: Getting better backpacks, carefully choosing what I bring with me when I leave my house

Change: Don’t use any kind of container, including pockets, only carry things in my hands

9) Doing class assignments

Input: Getting an assignment

Output: Completing assignment

Feedback: Improving how I work, doing things sooner

Change: Not let myself work on a piece the night before it’s due, it all has to be done before then

10) How I go to the bathroom

Input: Needing to pee

Output: Successfully peeing

Feedback: Not waiting until I really, REALLY need to pee

Change: Only peeing outside

Part II of the Systems Procedure was to choose an everyday procedure and turn it around, pushing it further in the opposite direction.  I decided to switch to using my left hand instead of my dominant right hand to go through a day.  This forced me to really focus on menial tasks which usually don’t take much thought such as dressing and eating.  Using my left hand, generally increased the effort for each and every task throughout the day.

1.  indoor v. outdoor

2. text v. in-person

3. digital time v. watch

4. careful v. careless

5. chopstick v. fork

6. lens v. glasses

7. typing v. writing

8. reusable v. disposable

9. traditional v. unconventional

10. Using left hand for all major functions throughout the day, to really focus on what I am doing, and putting more effort into each and every action.

Here is a list of systems in my life. Underneath each system I have also added ways in which I can mess up the system by changing something about the feedback:

1. Cooking:
   Input: Hunger
   Output: Satisfaction
   Feedback: Talent/skill
   Other Factors: Diet, time, peopleCook dishes have never cooked before for a day
   Only cook what I can make within 5 minutes.
   Assemble all pics of food I have eaten over the past few years (I always take pics of new things I eat/ cook)
2. Communication:
   Input: Necessity
   Output: Knowledge gained or given
   Feedback: Urgency
   Other Factors: intelligence, language, personal vs. professionalRespond to all email, text, etc, that I receive within a day
   Speak with a thick Indian accent for a day
3. Religion
   Input: Belief
   Output: Tradition
   Feedback: Passion
   Other Factors: Family, culture, time, dedicationTry reading a religious text that is not from my religion
   Attend another religions’ meeting
4. Language
   Input: Idea
   Output: Communicate
   Feedback: Audience
   Other Factors: Culture, Family, Friends, Location, SpeciesSpeak Tamil to everyone for one day
5.  Transportation
   Input: Leave
   Output: Arrive
   Feedback: Distance
   Other Factors: Weather, Time, CompanyVisit a PAT public meeting
   Walk to all destinations regardless of distance
   Wait for 1 specific bus the whole day
6. Hygiene
   Input: routine
   Output: Clean
   Feedback: Tolerance (of feeling dirty)
   Other Factors: Family, Friends, Responsibilities, SocietyDedicate 2 hours for brushing my teethe
   Bathe in ice cold water for a week
7. Study
   Input: Confused
   Output: Understand
   Feedback: Skill
   Other Factors: Interest, tiredness, timeAttend academic development
   Attend study sessions for 1 day (even if I do not take the class)
8. Relationships
   Input: Lonely
   Output: Support System
   Feedback: Maintenance (keeping in touch)
   Other Factors: Who?, Family, Professional vs. Personal, memories, grudgesRespond to all email, texts, social media, that I receive in a day (even if it is spam)
   Write letters to everyone that I have not kept in touch with
9. Reading
   Input: Curiosity
   Output: Knowledge
   Feedback: Time/speed
   Other Factors: Interest, personal vs assigned, genre, lengthOnly read Magazines for one day
   Read texts that are not assigned and are not interesting for me
10. Sleeping
    Input: exhausted
    Output: refreshed
    Feedback: Time
    Other Factors: work, tiredness, Parents, schedule, rulesDo not sleep for a night
    Sleep with hourly interruptions
    Spend a day where you sleep for an hour, work an hour, sleep, work, sleep, etc
11. System That I changed for 1 day:
    Self – improvement
    Input: Need to Change
    Output: Become a better person
    Feedback(negative) : criticism
    Feedback(Positive) : Praise
    Other Factors: work, professionalism, self-esteem, confidence, societyIn this system, I found it interesting that the system has clear negative and positive feedbacks. However, People most often seek to improve themselves through criticism even though positive reinforcement (praise) is proven to work better. I believe that this system is closely tied in with societal norms or pressures; if someone seeks praise then they are labelled as narcissistic, over-confident, and more. It is also hard to receive praise since we are not trained on how to graciously accept it. To break this system, I spent a day trying to let everyone on my contacts list know what great things they’ve done for me or just how special they were. After getting past the initial discomfort of writing such wonderful things and sending them out to be judged, it was interesting to see the different reactions.
    Here is a link to the post which Documents this experience: teach.alimomeni.net/2014spring1/?p=4024