Tags: leisure

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On scattered moments and video games

Posted: - Modified: | life

In anticipation of more fuzzy-brain time-confetti, I've been thinking about what I can do with short, scattered moments. The considerations are:

  • They should be activities that I can pick up and put down at a moment's notice: minimal switching costs and easy availability
  • They should be useful or enjoyable, and ideally both
  • Ideally, they should build up over time

Here's a list of things I often find myself doing:

  • Reading: nonfiction, fiction, random Internet browsing. Dusted off my Kindle and loaded it up with a few tech manuals and some fanfiction. Great for walking around, since I can use the page buttons even with gloves on.
  • Tidying up or preparing: there's always something that needs to be done
  • Checking out the Emacs community to see if I can answer a quick question or learn from other people's conversations
  • Drawing an index card or two
  • Playing casual games

I think games are worth thinking about a little more, even though I'm tempted to focus on the more useful activities. There are a lot of people who spend a lot of time thinking about how to make gaming more engaging. It's a big industry. I wonder if I can turn it to my own purposes.

2016-02-01c Game endings -- index card #gaming

2016-02-01c Game endings – index card #gaming.png

I tend to like games with stories that have funny moments, like RPGs or LEGO games. Since games like that tend to require space and development effort, I play them on the PSP or the PS3. I've learned I'm not a completionist when it comes to achievements or levels – I like passing a level, but I'm not driven to reach three out of three stars. I can enjoy open-ended sandbox simulations. Games that go until failure tend to be a little depressing after a while – the abstract achievement of lasting a certain time or reaching a certain level doesn't tickle my brain the same way other things do.

2016-01-14d Thinking about games I liked -- index card #play #gaming #leisure

2016-01-14d Thinking about games I liked – index card #play #gaming #leisure.png

Reflecting on the specific games I've liked, I notice that I usually explore games that W-‘s also playing as a way of spending time together or sharing experiences. This is how I ended up getting into Borderlands 2 and Persona 4 Golden, and why I'm playing Final Fantasy IX now. On my own, I find that I'm a little partial to time- and resource-management games. I figure that among the popular games of those genres, a game is probably as good as any other. So I'm playing through Rising Star Chef on the tablet, and just for kicks (and Takei's narration, although there's far too little of that), Star Trek: Trexels on my phone.

It seems like most of the popular games have switched to a freemium model, with in-app purchases for the impatient. I find myself liking the built-in timers and rate limits, actually. They're good for reminding me to surface from the game and look around. There's a little bit of pride, too, in the thought: “Aha, I resist your feeble attempts to convince me to spend money.” But that's only part of the picture, of course. I pay in time and attention, and often in exposure to advertisements. So if I'm going to do this, I want to make sure that I get what I want out of it.

Here are the pay-offs I think I'm getting from these games, and some alternatives if I want to play with those pay-offs.

2016-01-28c Playing with games -- index card #games

2016-01-28c Playing with games – index card #games.png

Games give me a sense of learning and a sense of progress, although they're of arbitrary things. Games also deliberately build on the rush of intermittent rewards.

2016-02-01b Playing with my brain's failure modes -- index card #gaming

2016-02-01b Playing with my brain's failure modes – index card #gaming.png

The most interesting benefit for me, though, is developing an awareness of how I think in different situations, while keeping things low-risk. Sometimes I catch myself getting flustered and messing up orders in the cooking game, or letting a party member get knocked out in FF9 because I was too distracted to pay attention to the health stats. (Trexels seems more like a virtual pet than anything else; it feels like it's just a matter of time.) I like the way games make me think a few steps ahead, take risks, recover from mistakes, and deal with (or even celebrate) the inevitable failures.

So maybe a little more gaming, with built-in limits thanks to freemium timers and the pull of other things, mixed in with all these other ways to use scattered moments. Hmm…

A reflection on leisure and discretionary time

Posted: - Modified: | experiment, time

I'm coming up to the 4-year mark of this 5-year experiment with semi-retirement. The start of the final year might even neatly coincide with the next substantial change I've been planning. I've been very lucky to have had this opportunity to explore, and it's a good opportunity to reflect on self-direction and leisure.

This past year has been a little like the openness of my final year of university, when my habit of taking summer courses freed up half the typical academic load for the schoolyear and I had plenty of time to explore open source development. This time, I had even more autonomy. No exams to study for, no projects to submit; just choices.

I'm learning that my physical state strongly influences my mental state, which then strongly influences how I use my time and how I feel about that use. If I'm tired or fuzzy-brained, I won't get a lot done. I've learned to make better use of fuzzy-brained times by keeping a list of small tasks I can do, like housework. I invest some of my alert time in building the systems and processes to help me when I'm fuzzy-brained, too. Long-term, I'm probably well-served by investing more time in health. I'll rest when I need to. Beyond that, if my mind's not as active or as energetic as I'd like, there's always working on my energy.

I feel particularly good when I use my discretionary time to:

  • contribute to the Emacs community by organizing resources, writing code or posts, answering questions, and experimenting with ideas
  • build tools for myself (interfaces, scripts, etc.), especially if I can learn more about libraries or frameworks
  • dig deeper into thoughts through a combination of drawing and writing
  • sew something, especially if I end up using it a lot
  • research, plan, and take notes
  • work on other skills
  • watch or read something informative/interesting/useful, particularly if it's practical or skill-related

I feel good when I:

  • declutter, organize, document, and/or improve our routines, files, and other resources
  • cook something yummy (mostly focusing on familiar recipes at the moment, but I'm looking forward to exploring more)
  • play video games with W-, especially when we pick up new in-jokes or when we pull off neat tricks when beating the enemies
  • keep the household running
  • go for a long walk, especially with a useful destination and an interesting podcast to listen to or a question to think about
  • stretch a little or do whatever exercises I can
  • watch a good movie with W-, especially when it results in more in-jokes or an appreciation of how the movie is put together

On the other hand, I feel like time's just passing when I:

  • write, but not end up posting my notes (although it's a little bit better if I organize them for later review)
  • read casually, without a particular application or goal: books, e-books, the Internet
  • play games, especially if there's not much sense of progress

I've come to enjoy a lot of different kinds of discretionary time. I think I don't need a lot of pure leisure, at least not the vegging-out kind. I definitely like having a lot of discretionary time – to be able to choose what to do when – but even the things we do for day-to-day living can be enjoyable.

I will probably have less absolute time for leisure and less control of my time in general, but I think I'll be okay. Because of this experiment, I've been learning that time probably isn't my limiting factor when it comes to things like writing or learning or making things. It's probably more about curiosity, observation, motivation, and experience, and those are things that I can develop through the years.

Related:

What to do during open days

| life

September 1 is Labour Day in Canada, so it's a holiday. Aside from that, I usually try to keep my consulting to a reasonable number of hours, so sometimes I'll end up with a weekday I've promised to devote to things that are not work. I find that I tend to get caught up in work sometimes, especially when I'm programming. Then it's hard to think of what I'm missing out on. Other times, I settle into comfortable routines. A list of activities helps me notice things I haven't tried in a while.

So here's an incomplete list of things to do on these “open” days…

2014-08-28 What to do during open days - #leisure #experiment

2014-08-28 What to do during open days – #leisure #experiment

  1. Cook something more elaborate than usual
  2. Write a lot
  3. Reflect and plan through drawings, blog posts
  4. Combine sketches in blog posts
  5. Graze books, skim for ideas
  6. Read a book deeply
  7. Catch up on e-mail and other correspondence
  8. Sleep in or nap
  9. Play with/work on Emacs things
  10. Clean, declutter, donate, tidy up
  11. Practise drawing
  12. Do paperwork
  13. Help J- shop or sort out stuff
  14. Take care of chores and errands
  15. Learn or improve a skill
  16. Package e-books and resources
  17. Make outlines and lists
  18. Shop for things we need or want
  19. Work on little projects around the house
  20. Enjoy the sunshine in a park
  21. Have a massage
  22. Study languages
  23. Analyze time
  24. Watch a movie in a theatre
  25. Help Hacklab move/market
  26. Hang out at Hacklab
  27. Spend time with friends
  28. Treat ourselves to a restaurant meal and try something new
  29. Check out events
  30. Volunteer
  31. Read fiction
  32. Spend time with cats
  33. Get a head start on work
  34. Watch a movie at home
  35. Go for a long bike ride

To write well, one must have leisure

| writing

To write well, one must have leisure: leisure to read, leisure to think, to talk things over, to talk oneself in and out of a position, to compose and rewrite and polish, to travel, to observe, to listen, to let the sounds and voices sink into one's consciousness until they are ready to come out again, having “suffered a sea-change.” All this requires leisure, and leisure is an expensive commodity.

– Miguel A. Bernad, SJ

One of the reasons I want to figure out how to retire early or enjoy great work-life balance. =)

Discovered via a comment left by purpleslurpee on charlesatan's essay on writer's block.