October Graphs

The definitions really aren't that important imo. I mean I guess they are if you're trying to graph the amount of time you play in a specific state, but I think that's way too hard to quantify as the quality of your mental game is constantly in flux. It's pretty rare to play an entire session completely in one category or the other imo. The kind of precise introspection and constant (manual) recording required to accurately graph this would be too distracting when you're trying to focus on poker at the same time.

A more useful practice than constantly recording your mental state during play (I'm not saying that's what you do, I assume you're averaging it over a session) is to constantly sample your mental state, and try to bring yourself back to an optimal, objective state. I found angelo's deep breathing suggestion helpful, as I've generally found all breathing-based meditations helpful. If all else fails, snap quit.

I just jumped on you because I don't believe most people are particularly good at judging the quality of their mental state, and tend to underestimate the extent of tilt they're experiencing. Tilt puts you in a more primitive mental state where introspection becomes harder and harder as our reptilian brains take over. Apologies if you're better than most -- I don't know you and you may be better than I assumed.

Your A game sounds like what I'd call my B game. B game is where I make no obvious mistakes, play solidly, follow action, take notes and don't send IMs....I mean sending IMs during sessions is just dumb and something that shouldn't be in any of your games.

My A game is where I make awesome plays I wouldn't normally see. Think outside the box to more to find new outlooks or relevant factors on spots I'd normally overlook. When I play my A game I find myself discovering new ways to exploit my opponents, I'm more in tune with the mistakes their making and how I can adjust to them. Stuff like that.

Either make an A+ game and aim to play it as often as possible, or set the bar a bit higher for your A game imo.

If you ever find yourself playing you C game as you have described it, quit your session. There's no reason to play if unfocussed and doing other shit on the internet or your phone at the same time. If you ever find yourself playing your E game then just switch to your F game and win all that monies back through run good ldo.