Standing and sitting, again...

Just because I stand when I work doesn't mean I never sit. Indeed, I typically take breaks sitting down at a library table Galina and I bought some years ago. As part of moving my office, I've moved said library table into my office.

I hope to make it a "reading, handwriting, and meditation" station. However, I think I will have to be on guard against the very real temptation of spending increasing amounts of time sitting. (Before, when the desk was in the next room, I was quite acutely aware of being "away from keyboard," meaning work.)

My most recent episode of poor productivity had me trying something called the "Pomodoro method," in which one sets a timer for 25 minutes (a unit called a "Pomodoro," in honor of a mechanical kitchen timer shaped like a tomato) and then single-mindedly pursues a single task during that period, after which the method calls for an enforced 5 minute break, during which one should not do anything work-related at all. After the break, it's back to the mine face, and so on. The system has a few additional wrinkles, but I think my description covers the main points.

The Pomodoro method appears to be a more structured version of my own approach to productivity improvement, which is simply to pay attention to what I am doing, generally represented by doing word counts periodically, and mentally encouraging myself with "You're going to have to do better than that!" when necessary.

Anyway, if my periods of sitzfleisch become all too common, or lengthy, I may have to bring a timer into the room. Meanwhile, I plan to spend an hour (two Pomodoros) catching up on my reading and thinking.

Cheers...

Bang!

The exclamation point doesn't get much respect, and it's awfully easy to understand why. People who assault your eyeballs with text awash in exclamation points often have other bad habits, such as writing text with the Caps Lock engaged.

Of the exclamation point, Elmore Leonard said “You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.”

“Five exclamation marks, the sure sign of an insane mind,” noted Terry Pratchett.

My favorite quote about exclamation points, however, is from D. Keith Mano, who wrote, "The exclamation point may only be used in dialogue, and then only if the person speaking has recently been disemboweled."

Which I think is a really good illustration of "show vs. tell" in getting one's point across.

Cheers...