I've been having more sits and noting much more during life. By focusing on the clinging as the main target for relaxation it zeros in on the problem without manipulating too much of anything else so you feel normal and can be functional while doing work. Self-referencing is the enemy. It's just an extra loop that takes up processing power that can be used elsewhere. It's amazing how many weird loops are there are with fake scenarios/catastrophizing/rehearsal of conversations for a future time. Just relaxing the body and relaxing the thoughts reduces tension because it's a relaxing interruption instead of a mental debate on how that looping shouldn't happen. Just relax and get on with the task. That's a good principle whether you're aiming for jhana or just want to get on with a task.
During difficult situations like dealing with job security or possible meetings with judgemental people noting has been a huge help. Most people believe performance = self-worth which is a trap. Performance should only = performance. Noting just exposes thinking as just thinking.
I'm studying more and find it easier to let go of aversion and following the same patterns. I'm focusing more on realistic ways of studying. Along with the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve I've added some other things that make my studying efforts more like a slow adding to detail and preventing myself from going to new subjects too fast.
Principles of Deep ProcessingMore chores are getting completed and a key use of noting is improving my beliefs in dealing with the failure schema. The schema creates so much aversion that unless it's interrupted with accurate non-judgemental noting it will create avoidance or procrastination.
The simple trick is to notice when you're thinking about the task that you need to do and the aversion starts welling up in your body. There's a fake tiredness that appears that really is aversion and very little tiredness. By applying consistent noting at this point to let go of any aversion or attachment to distracting activities it's easier to stop the conditioning and move on to the necessary task.It's like creating a space of relief where you can park temporarily and then once the aversion has disappeared I can then go do the task I need to without pushing against aversive thoughts. The reward is still the same as in goal orientation but it's important to like the benefits of what you are doing which then gets the brain to prefer those activities to the short-term gratification that distraction brings.
I'm still in the dark woods with meditation as life improvement and it has to include basic beliefs that failure is okay and a genuine resolve to continue without needing an instant reward or big successes. Mental narratives with failure and success both have to be abandoned. Too much pride and depression fucks everything up.

My sitting meditation is still a mixture of Shikantaza and noting. Sometimes there is a noticing of how things are gone by understanding that future turns into the past instantly. It's hard to ruminate when everything is past and the present moment is just short-term memory. I also like Cittamatra as a reminder that everything I'm experiencing is just impressions on awareness. Of course awareness is aware of awareness so there's more but even that is good enough to reduce clinging.
CittamatraGuided meditation