When I do mindless or routine tasks for a while, activities I don't need much conscious thought for, I go back to older and simpler cognitions. It takes me a little effort to, for example, notice I'm confused, and then remember the methods of rationality. That takes me a second or so, during which some attention goes inward, to flash images associated with rationality. So to me, rational, purposeful thought distinctly feels like a faculty that needs to be (re)activated to be used.
That's my own experience. Does anyone experience this similarly?
So I played with this activation. First I started noticing it and feeling it in detail. I don't know how much my (non-trivial) mindfulness meditation training helped with this. I related to the activation impulse as another part of my body, as if I had an extra finger and was learning how to twitch it. I found a short trigger phrase for me to associate with this activation and taught my brain the connection by simply doing the activation at the same time as I was saying the trigger phrase.
Do any of you guys do something like that? Some image, phrase or visualization that helps you remember to be rational?
"Be rational" is not specific. Consider particular skills instead.