Holes In Thoughts

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Benefits of Loserdom

I tend to jot down blog drafts when I have an idea for an entry. These tend to be ignored – especially over the last few months when work has been difficult, and the first thing I’d like to do after a day of work is walk away from the computer. Certainly I don’t want to stay there and keep writing. So out of curiosity I looked up how many blog ‘drafts’ I had. 43. That’s too many. So I’m starting to take care of my backlog.

Normally, in a popular blog, this would be really bad because half of the new material would be created in a way that readers are unlikely to ever find it (several months in the past’s archives). Fortunately, I suppose, this isn’t a popular blog! It’s just for me! So I don’t have to worry about it. This is the benefits of loserdom – the only person that I’m trying to wite for is me.

This is also the case with the album I’m writing. Because it’s just me, writing for me, I don’t much care that it’s almost 2 years overdue.
Precious few people know that it exists, and that doesn’t bother me in the least.

The disadvantage, of course, is that without someone hanging on my shoulder asking where today’s blog is, or when the album is coming out, the likelihood of a punctual work schedule is slim. But hey, if Guns & Roses can publish Chinese Democracy, maybe there’s hope for Ignition as well.

Labels: blog, Impulse Nine, music, procrastination, slacking, writing

posted by Steve @ 6:07 PM 0 comments

Thursday, March 06, 2008

How to Work

It took me 27 years to figure out a work regimen that actually keeps me coherent for an eight-hour stretch. Of course, until this year, I didn't have a full-time desk job, so I didn't really need it, but I struggled with focusing for more than 3 or 4 hours before this. I really wish I had actually spent some time with this as far back as high school, but I never quite did bad enough for myself to force the issue. It's something I think should be taught in grade schools: how your own rhythms work.

I am one of the types that benefits from taking frequent, short breaks, because the longer I focus on a problem, the more tunnel vision I get. Every time you make a change in web design, you are probably effecting other changes, and if you don't zoom out a little to realize what those other things are, you can do a lot of damage.

The extra bonus of this is that, by taking those short breaks, I can shake out my hands and focus my eyes on a distant object to rest them, so I reduce the strain on them as well.

My current work regimen goes like this:

Work for 3 minutes, then a 30-second break (which can be skipped if I really need to finish something). Every hour, take a 10-minute break. I use this to do dishes, run the laundry, and if those are done, play basketball (practicing free-throws, jump shots, around-the-world, 3's, or dribbling). That gets my blood flowing again, and surprisingly, I come back to the desk a lot more awake and focused. I'm aided in this by Workrave, which actually locks my computer at breaks.

The temptation to slack by checking blogs, comics and so on is especially keen when you spend your whole work day online. Bookmarks are especially easy to click on. Probably the biggest gain in my productivity besides the 10-minute breaks has come from using two Firefox profiles. Firefox profiles allow you to have a completely different set of bookmarks and plug-ins from your current profile. I have two Firefox profiles: work and play. Play has all my webcomics, blogs, and a lot of cool little plug-ins. Work has far fewer plugins (all web design related), and zero bookmarks. Just not having the toys staring me in the face helps immensely.

The only thing I haven't really been able to do is find a way to offset the after-lunch malaise without a load of caffeine. I have started making smaller sandwiches, and that helps, but I am absolutely sure that the U.S. would be a happier place if we went with the Spanish workday, with a siesta. Also, the jury is still out about whether or not 20-50 minutes of light basketball is going to be enough of the health and weight effects of having a full-time desk job.

Labels: basketball, design, exercise, slacking, webcomics, work

posted by Steve @ 12:22 PM 0 comments

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Endings and Beginnings

I had a lovely 27th birthday party, and have come to understand that my favorite kind of get-together/party involves about 3-10 of my friends. I'll have to remember that when we have our housewarming party in about 3 weeks.

A beginning: our time here in this apartment is coming to an end, and we're doing it the right way: giving ourselves a week and a half to move. The new place is a duplex with covered parking right outside the door, and enough room for a basketball hoop and a garden in the back yard. It also has laundry machines, thank God.

An end: I picked up the seventh and final Harry Potter book at midnight on my birthday. I didn't go to sleep - I stayed up until about 10am reading, slept for four hours, and woke up to finish the book. I'm still recovering, a bit, but my impression is favorable. Before judging it properly, though, I'm going to re-read the entire series once we've moved (the other books are packed up already).

A beginning: I bought an expensive PDA/phone, the Treo 755p. It replaces my old phone, a Sanyo SCO-7200, which I will honestly miss (still have to donate it to a recycling service). It was a beast, and survived more falls than I care to think about. I'll have to be much more careful with my new phone. The idea with the new phone is that I will be able to keep myself organized, and also have directions on me while traveling (it has Google maps).

An end: we're not slackin' anymore, and finally starting to keep proper records. We're going to take an inventory of everything we have for our insurance. Believe me, it's amazing how much stuff one has, especially all the ancillary stuff. Imagine how much it would cost to replace just the stuff you use in the bathroom (razors, shampoo, scrubber, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc.). This also involves keeping track of important receipts and warranties.

A beginning: I'm about halfway through organizing my photo archive. Once I'm finished, I'll be posting them onto various stock photo websites and hopefully I'll make a couple bucks here and there.

An ending: the process of getting the truck all fixed up is basically over, now that it's re-wired, if Saguaro Auto gets the thing to pass emissions (we'll find out tomorrow). At this point, we've pretty much redone everything. Of course, there's a lot of glaring problems: the passenger door doesn't lock, the dash is completely torn apart, and it needs to have the rust blasted out of the bed. But these things don't have any effect on how it runs, and that makes me very happy. Or it will, if it passes emissions...

A beginning: Rachel and I now have full insurance (dental, visual, medical) and an active 401k from Bookman's. It's the first time I've had that since I was a military dependent, and even then, because I had no car, I never took advantage of it because I couldn't get clear across town. I'll be getting a physical soon, and go to the first dental appointment I've had in ages.

Labels: apartments, birthday, friends, Harry Potter, insurance, moving, party, photography, slacking, Treo, truck

posted by Steve @ 11:26 PM 0 comments

About Me

Name: Steve
Home: Tucson, Arizona, United States
About Me: I like to think about things, and I occasionally like to write what I think.
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