Just a quick note today, also I’m including a different and completely unrelated comic strip called “Nerd Hero Boy”. You might want to view this in landscape if you’re on a phone, hope you enjoy it.
I am also considering publishing the newsletter on a different day, let me know in the comments if you have any preferences. I’m contemplating publishing on Wednesdays.
But enough of that. I discovered something about myself today and that’s what I wanted to share with you. I was recording a screen capture while drawing (I’ll post a time-lapse of that in another newsletter). I hit record, worked on the piece for a while and stopped the recording whenever I became distracted. This is my usual practice, I just combine all of the recordings afterward in a video editing program. It seemed like a relatively usual day, except I wasn’t feeling a sense of satisfaction with my work.
When I looked back at the last 3 videos that I had recorded, I noticed a pattern. This was a revelation to me. It not only gave me insight into my own challenges with focus, attention and productivity, it confirmed my professional understanding of behavioural treatment processes.
At my work, I often encourage parents and caregivers to take data on their attempts to implement a new behavioural plan. I give them little tracking sheets to record what they have done, and what the result was. When families actually fill out those sheets, it is amazing what insights they gain. They often quickly understand exactly what they have been doing that was reinforcing the negative behaviors, and what they can do to promote the positive behaviours. When everyone is actively engaged and committed to the process, the results are typically positive.
What is that famous saying about healthcare workers? “Doctor heal thyself” or perhaps “Nurses make the worst patients”. I think it is safe to say that those of us that work in healthcare, don’t always take our own advice. There is something about spending a lifetime training yourself to deliver treatment to others that makes you think that you somehow are immune to the challenges that they are facing. You begin to believe that you know what to do and all of that “data collection” stuff is just for your clients.
Well hello serendipity. While I was recording my screen, I accidentally took data on myself.
For three recordings in a row, I stopped recording at just over 18 minutes. There was some variation, but it was strange to look at all of those recordings and realize that they were that close (18m 13s, 18m 49s and 18m 27s). Many of my other recent recordings were around 20 minutes. I thought to myself, “Hmm, maybe that’s why I’m not getting into that flow state”. I have this perception of myself, in the past when I was working traditionally, as being engaged with my projects for hours. Perhaps I am just fooling myself and I have always been this distractible. Regardless, now that I have this information I really need to do something with it. Or do I?
This brings up the idea of “accommodation” vs “remediation”. Do I just work around my seemingly 20 minute attention span? Do I force myself to just “stick with it” when I feel myself getting distracted? Or do I do something else?
The truth is, I am writing this newsletter immediately after gaining this insight. I am supposed to be working on my drawing right now. This is a “task switch” that I think is recharging my visual arts battery, preparing me to re-engage in the drawing process. But, maybe not. There are times, when I can focus for hours on a creative project, but the more I think about it, even with those times of intense focus, I do take a lot of little mini-breaks. I find that drawing and painting require me to walk away or divert my attention frequently so that I can return with fresh eyes.
Other digital artists recommend flipping your canvas frequently to get a new perspective, traditional artists would use a mirror, or step back from their canvas to see it in a different light or squint their eyes to view it as a blurry mass without detail. I think for me, none of these tactics are nearly as effective as stepping away, engaging in a different task, briefly, and then returning. This is likely also the reason that writers write in stages, completing multiple “drafts” and refining their work. They can “see with new eyes” when they take time away from a specific piece of work and then return.
I actually feel “drained” if I stay at a specific visual task too long and I know from my O.T. training that I have challenges with visual figure-ground (a subject for another newsletter). I also know that I feel re-energized when I return to a drawing after doing something else. Sometimes that something else needs to be a 10 minute nap. Sometimes it can be 15 minutes of housework, emptying the dishwasher, folding some clothes, dusting my action figures (I can feel your jealousy, they are pretty awesome), or some physical activity. It depends on the day and where I am emotionally and cognitively. I think what I have learned from this, is that “taking a break” from artistic work can’t be doing more visually demanding tasks on the computer for me. Also, many of the “little distractions” on the computer can easily become major time-sinks. Particularly since I am working digitally, I need to step away from the computer, just for a few minutes. I also think that when I make sure to do something a little more active, I can definitely re-engage for longer than 18 minutes. Perhaps I’ll try to do a little experiment on that in the future and report back to you faithful readers later. Like and subscribe to the newsletter so you don’t’ miss anything.
Like I said, just a short note this week, I may not post next Sunday, but I will likely start posting in the middle of the week. Hope you’re having a great weekend and …
See you next time.
blackManic