tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452859703177948205.post8996773934689318479..comments2023-07-27T06:37:11.373-07:00Comments on Wertle's Journal: On EfficiencyWertlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17169530557097022984noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452859703177948205.post-76392887589051412002011-12-19T10:42:50.598-08:002011-12-19T10:42:50.598-08:00Thanks for the insights, sabrina! It's funny ...Thanks for the insights, sabrina! It's funny because just recently in a conversation with my lead about how not-doing things and planning too much makes me antsy, he lent me his copy of the War of Art, and I'm reading it now :)Wertlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17169530557097022984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452859703177948205.post-73878769599101467182011-12-18T07:17:42.636-08:002011-12-18T07:17:42.636-08:00i think many creative people can relate to this qu...i think many creative people can relate to this quest. i know i can. my suspicion is that you exert a lot of attention, analysis, and creativity at work, as you did at school. your "futzing around" on the internet or playing WoW are your down time. in that theory it becomes easy to see why you move on to naps when you cut out these forms of down time. <br /><br />down time is important, even waking downtime. there are lots of theories on how sleep and dreams help you sort out your experiences or solve problems- that while you sleep your brain is incubating on real topics you've been thinking about in your waking life. i suspect the same is partly true for waking downtime- playing games, reading books, watching tv. i don't think these things are necessarily useless. your brain can do them at less than 100%. maybe leftover resources your thoughts are still turning over that design problem from work. and the potential boon of waking downtime is that you may also be providing new input or experiences into your brain which can then be cross referenced with your current problems. trying to solve that design issue? maybe something mentioned in an article sparks a mental connection, now or later, when you're dreaming.<br /><br />you may have found your equilibrium of active project time and waking/sleeping downtime. i think you can learn to push the limits on this. some people seem to be able to be much more productive over longer hours than others. but something that also works is to increase your efficiency/lower the costs of your current active project time- ie, your time at work. If you can improve your work processes, take a vacation, or find yourself between projects, you may find that your ability to do personal projects goes up- because you aren't exerting as much active energy on your job. <br />that's my theory for you.<br /><br />if you looking for a more "you can do anything all the time if only you had the right mindset" approach- i recommend this <a href="http://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Through-Creative-Battles/dp/0446691437" rel="nofollow"> book: The War of Art </a> (it's short, i might recommend it no matter what you think about my waking downtime theory )<br /><br />good luck!sabrinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17457625973504602003noreply@blogger.com