You wanna take this outside?

Wed, 13 Sep 2023 16:59:06 GMT

Starting this week at work, I'm following through with my plan to take my ten minute breaks (and the latter half of my lunch) outside rather than hiding in the small break room. It's part of my 'get off the damn internet' experiment, and it seems to be working much better than expected. I've been heading up to the upper parking deck these last few days -- taking the steps because the elevators are broken again -- and finding a quiet spot in the corner to just relax and meditate. I've popped the phone open once or twice, but mainly to text A for one thing or another, and also to keep an eye on the time so I don't go over. It was inspired by one of my coworkers who always goes outside during his own breaks rather than sitting around. He's one of those 'can never sit still' sort of guys (who, ironically, has been at home sitting still these last several weeks with a broken foot) and I've been meaning to do the same for ages now.

The funny thing is that it reminds me of my HMV days, when I'd take unscheduled smoke breaks out on the upper parking deck at Solomon Pond Mall (back when you could smoke by the door instead of miles away). This was well before I owned a cell phone, and that was when I spent the time thinking about my writing. I didn't force it at the time because I'd already been thinking about it on the daily for months -- that was also when I'd started going to work early to have a longhand writing session in the food court. It was my few minutes of mental detox during a busy day by way of allowing my imagination to play around in my little created universe for a few minutes every couple of hours.

Which makes me think: maybe I can make this happen again? I mean, without the smoking habit, heh. I've already got the pre-job writing session here at home (thanks, ten minute walking commute!), so I don't need to focus on that. But once I get back to consistent work on my WIPs again, that can be my break-time distraction: thinking over and planning my next writing session. Nothing intensive, just passive, relaxing and enjoyable thoughts about my current work in progress.

And a few minutes of mental detox every couple of hours during a busy day isn't a bad thing at all.

comments

let's try that again, shall we?

Mon, 13 Mar 2023 00:00:50 GMT

Okay, I really need to detox from the Birdsite, and I just fell right back into the doomscrolling, didn't I? *sigh* Let's try that again. Go cold turkey if I have to. I mean, let's think about it here: most everyone I come into basic contact with is either here, on FB or on Discord, yeah? Maybe a few friends here and there on Twitter, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I need to passively pop it open every damn time I go on break at work. I've just temporarily removed the shortcut from my phone (I didn't actually uninstall it), so maybe that'll remind me that I need to stop looking at it.

It's not as if I'm using it to disconnect from the Day Job, I've merely fallen into and stayed in the habit of reading it every time I go on my breaks.

So what should I use for a distraction, then...?

Good question. Can't really bring a book because I don't really have the room for it in my lunch bag, unless I bring my Nook. Which means I'd need to decide on an ebook to read at some point, yeah? I already have a small notebook in said back that I'm supposed to be using for writing-during-break reasons.

Or I could, y'know, always go outside if the weather's nice. Or even then, I could hang out near the steps to the roof parking lot if the weather's not so nice. A few of my coworkers go up to the roof for their breaks. A few others who smoke head to the receiving dock to light up (this includes both of my managers, heh). A few of them who drive head out to their car and chill. Either way, I want and need to utilize those ten-minute breaks AWAY FROM THE INTERNETS. (Unless said internets are being used to read an ebook or access my Dropbox folders for writing stuff.)

One of these things should work. I just need to, y'know....DO it.

comments

Drunken Owls and Other Delights

You wanna take this outside?

let's try that again, shall we?