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Why I take sketch breaks instead of surfing the Internet
61–70 of 78 posts
Re: Why I take sketch breaks instead of surfing the Internet
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ahh- then "Knopfler bends" must refer to Dire Straights guitarist Mark Knopfler.
Yes, exactly. Sorry for the guitar geek-speak. I guess for a second there I mentally collapsed the distinction between one of my nerd communities and the other. Maybe I'll go onto Harmony Central's guitar boards and start using acronyms like DRY and OOP just to balance the scales...
I used to keep my bass guitar near me, but it got left behind when I emigrated to canada. Being reminded by people like you and posts like this makes me feel like going to a pawn shop and seeing if I can find a half-decent cheapie to hammer some strings on.
I did the majority of my writing with a guitar strap on, so I feel like picking one up to see if it could get me back into writing, something I've struggled with ever since I moved.
Re: Why I take sketch breaks instead of surfing the Internet
#63My G&L Tele is out of its case leaning against the wall most all the time for this very reason. 5-10 minutes of working on my Knopfler bends and I'm good. Time well spent.
I do the same with my bass when I am working at home. My only problem is that sometimes I get so excited playing it that is hard to stop.
As I said elsewhere (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3170702) I used to play bass when I wrote.
I once had to edit tablature for a song I was writing out of a movie review - oops. That was a "I can do two things at once, but maybe I shouldn't" moment.
Re: Why I take sketch breaks instead of surfing the Internet
#64My G&L Tele is out of its case leaning against the wall most all the time for this very reason. 5-10 minutes of working on my Knopfler bends and I'm good. Time well spent.
I've got a couple of guitars sitting close by, but I don't use them often enough during the work day. Have been thinking about doing something other than surfing for breaks, might have to start working some Knopfler bends myself!
Do it. The world can always do with a little more sweet music, and god knows the wife will be pissed if I try to fit music making into a 5 minute break with her.
Re: Why I take sketch breaks instead of surfing the Internet
#65I write with my hands on paper as much as I can to get my eyes off of the monitor and my hands off the keyboard. Yes taking notes on something like evernote is more useful down the road, but for me there is something more free about jotting notes on paper. It gives me a mental break, a physical break, and if I come up with something really useful, I'll type it in a note program. As an added bonus, the retyping of it…
I write some of my best code with pen and paper. :) Stepping out of the keyboard+screen context helps me focus and opens up more creative thinking.
Re: Why I take sketch breaks instead of surfing the Internet
#66A recent article in "scientific american mind" argues that our sub-conscious mind solves problems when we sleep or daydream. I see no reason to think that when you are scribbling some doodles, the same thing isn't happening in the back of your head. This also probably helps to rest your ocular muscles and gives your retinas a break.
Re: Why I take sketch breaks instead of surfing the Internet
#67There is a dead comment here that mentions meditation and as this is my main method for taking breaks I thought I'd share (as I doubt the comment is dead for mentioning it). When I find I'm stressing over a project too much I just put whatever I'm working on away and meditate until my thoughts aren't being pulled all over the place. The word "meditate" can have a lot of different meanings but basically what I do is just focus on something like the breath entering and leaving my body; doing so consistently (and going back to it whenever my thoughts wander) always clears my head and makes whatever I was working on a lot easier to do.
Re: Why I take sketch breaks instead of surfing the Internet
#68There is a dead comment here that mentions meditation and as this is my main method for taking breaks I thought I'd share (as I doubt the comment is dead for mentioning it). When I find I'm stressing over a project too much I just put whatever I'm working on away and meditate until my thoughts aren't being pulled all over the place. The word "meditate" can have a lot of different meanings but basically what I do is j…
Do you ever feel awkward at work because you're meditating?
Re: Why I take sketch breaks instead of surfing the Internet
#69There is a dead comment here that mentions meditation and as this is my main method for taking breaks I thought I'd share (as I doubt the comment is dead for mentioning it). When I find I'm stressing over a project too much I just put whatever I'm working on away and meditate until my thoughts aren't being pulled all over the place. The word "meditate" can have a lot of different meanings but basically what I do is j…
Do you ever feel awkward at work because you're meditating?
I'm currently only in school but I've never felt awkward doing so in public. It's not like you have to sit cross-legged or anything to meditate. Keeping a good posture can help with meditation but it's really an entirely mental thing. If I'm working in class I just stop working, sit back, and breath; I'm sure I just look like I'm relaxing. If I looked like I was meditating the fact that I would probably be pulling people's gaze might weigh on my mind a bit. For this reason keeping an inconspicuous posture is something I find helpful.
Re: Why I take sketch breaks instead of surfing the Internet
#70Did anyone else read it as stretch breaks? I think that would have been quite relevant too.