Aaron Gerdes: Modes of Thought

Modes of Thought

aarongerdes@gmail.com (Aaron Gerdes) — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 21:36:00 -0800

Last week I spent two evenings engrossed in blog setup. The particular software I’m using (Typo) isn’t too well documented. Installing it requires stepping out of the GUI and into the command-line. That’s something I don’t do too often. Long story short, I hit some rocks, got some help (thanks, Typo community!), and around 3am the second evening, it started working.

A lot of time spent in the technical mindset, and I notice a difference. I’m being a bit more analytical than usual. I’m putting a finer point on things.

I used to notice this with video games, too. Playing a first-person shooter for about an hour made it easier to navigate when, say, driving (I often forget where I’m going).

Being more “on purpose” about this could be useful.

What about you? What shifts you into a different mode of thought? Do you have any routines that you do regularly to change your thinking?

"Modes of Thought" by Randy Gerdes

Fri, 10 Feb 2006 17:46:58 -0800

A guy once told me that Walt Disney had two offices. He used one for the detailed work of managing budgets and projects, timelines and contracts. The other space he kept sacred for thinking, creating, visualizing…and he was careful not to mix the two.

I don’t know if that’s myth or truth…but it seems like a great idea. The brain states required to create and visualize are different than those used to manage, count and quantify…different hemispheres wer’e told. I don’t have many of my good ideas in my office.

"Modes of Thought" by Anna

Thu, 09 Feb 2006 18:45:28 -0800

You guys are all giving me great ideas for how to start my day (although it’s unlikely that I’ll ever get the yen to sit down for a good game of Halo before work…)

If only I could manage to stop hitting the snooze button.

"Modes of Thought" by bryan

Thu, 09 Feb 2006 13:55:42 -0800

For clearing the mind before getting started on work, a large mug of french press coffee while triaging the RSS reader and email. Then turning those off, disconnecting the ethernet cable or wifi and getting to work. I’m going to assume you have a local development platform and/or local reference documentation.

"Modes of Thought" by Aaron Gerdes

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 23:27:35 -0800

4est said:

Something about the order and flippancy… nothing is permanent, and there are nearly always multiple solutions.

Sounds kind of like life. :)

"Modes of Thought" by Aaron Gerdes

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 23:27:07 -0800

Bryan, I’m with you 100% there. I’ve never been in better shape than my most recent tough project. I was running every day to decompress from the frustration.

I’m posting this thinking about how I’d do this beforehand instead as a reaction – sit down to a game of Halo just to get wake up blink decisions in time to answer email, then calm down with a run and morning pages for some designing.

"Modes of Thought" by Aaron Gerdes

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 23:24:26 -0800

For those interested in what Anna’s talking about: Morning pages are a technique described by Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way .

The idea is that you write stream of conciousness, first-thing in the morning until you fill three pages. The goal is to get all of the complaining, worrying, and pettiness out of your way and done so you can be creative that day.

"Modes of Thought" by Forrest

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 23:07:50 -0800

code relaxes me… I spend so much of my day worrying about everything and thinking that whenever I decide something it’s going too have dire, dire consequences that when I get the (all too infrequent) chance to sit down and write some code it really clears my head. Something about the order and flippancy… nothing is permanent, and there are nearly always multiple solutions.

"Modes of Thought" by bryan

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 22:11:52 -0800

Going for a run can help to clear the brain from all of the mental clutter that builds up. Or to relieve the stress/frustration from a bad client meeting/call.

I would agree with the first-person shooter video games. They can help my code writing as well. Counter-strike helps my mind to work at a faster than normal speed.

"Modes of Thought" by Anna

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 20:53:11 -0800

Morning pages! Writing out the first things/words/ideas that come to mind in the morning for 15 minutes lends a tinge of acceptance of my ideas and thoughts throughout the day.

It can silence that inner critic that hinders productivity (e.g. if you can’t do it right on the first try, don’t try it at all kind of mindset).