I first read "The slow death of purposeless coding".
The slow death of purposeless walking
71–80 of 188 posts
Re: The slow death of purposeless walking
#72I really enjoys the mindless strolling the article talks about. Assuming most people work 9-5, you can only take such walks in the morning or at night. Unfortunately, taking a solitary walk in my (US) city at those times is simply not safe and goes against a multitude of general safety tips.
The biggest problem is the dearth of other strollers. In addition to the lack of a pedestrian culture, US does not much of a concept of "communal life". When I travelled abroad (Asia and Africa, not sure about Europe), I noticed that there are much more people of all ages just lingering around the street/public spaces during the day and at night. They are just hanging out. In contrast American social scene centers around private spaces and networks. Lingering in public space seems out of place and such "idleness" is generally associated with unemployment and other undesirable qualities.
Re: The slow death of purposeless walking
#73imho, the best companion for a coder in home office is a dog. Try to explain your problem to your dog, if you are stuck. And if this does not help, walk the dog to free your mind, and relax. Most often the solution is obvious once I'm back home.
ah, Dog Debugging - the lesser known cousin of "rubber duck debugging"
Re: The slow death of purposeless walking
#74Smoke a little weed before you go on a purposeless walk. Make sure you have at least a distance, like a mile, that you want to walk. Also, be sure you're in a dense urban environment. I guarantee it will be one of the most inspirational activities you can do for yourself. I probably do this once a week in SF, and it really dislodges my thoughts/stresses from the previous week.
>Smoke a little weed before you go on a purposeless walk.
YMMV, for me that would be a paranoid, intellectually numb walk.
Re: The slow death of purposeless walking
#75Smoke a little weed before you go on a purposeless walk. Make sure you have at least a distance, like a mile, that you want to walk. Also, be sure you're in a dense urban environment. I guarantee it will be one of the most inspirational activities you can do for yourself. I probably do this once a week in SF, and it really dislodges my thoughts/stresses from the previous week.
> Also, be sure you're in a dense urban environment. Why?
Yeah for me my ideal relaxed and creative state is in the exact opposite of a dense urban environment. Not that it doesn't have its place, it just seems to impose a sense of purpose on you no matter what you're doing.
Re: The slow death of purposeless walking
#76Interesting "discussion" on reddit about the article (language warning): http://reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/comments/24g5xn
Re: The slow death of purposeless walking
#77Exactly why I walk to and from work. About 25 minutes each way, instead of taking the bus, or light rail. People always ask me, why do you walk? Because it's damn relaxing, especially when I look over and see traffic.
Re: The slow death of purposeless walking
#78Smoke a little weed before you go on a purposeless walk. Make sure you have at least a distance, like a mile, that you want to walk. Also, be sure you're in a dense urban environment. I guarantee it will be one of the most inspirational activities you can do for yourself. I probably do this once a week in SF, and it really dislodges my thoughts/stresses from the previous week.
I find SF to be one of the worst cities to walk around. Lot's of it is just boring, lot's of it is just unsafe or very dirty. Top cities for me would be Paris and Brussels.
Re: The slow death of purposeless walking
#79As some one who currently works from home, a "purposeless" walk is how I start and end my work day – I think of it as my "commute". Walking clears my head, gets me outside for a bit, and helps me separate my home life from my work life. For me, those walks might not be a necessity, but they are definitely not without purpose.
I wish I had the patience for this in the morning - I am the sort of person that rushes from A to B stressing over how much there is still to do and how little of it I've managed to complete.
Re: The slow death of purposeless walking
#80I really enjoys the mindless strolling the article talks about. Assuming most people work 9-5, you can only take such walks in the morning or at night. Unfortunately, taking a solitary walk in my (US) city at those times is simply not safe and goes against a multitude of general safety tips. The biggest problem is the dearth of other strollers. In addition to the lack of a pedestrian culture, US does not much of a co…
Where do you live in the US that is unsafe for walking?