Comments on: Working in Unusual Places

By: RUNAMUCK

RUNAMUCK — Sat, 25 Jun 2005 19:50:51 +0000

i have one of those mp3 portable players..mine comes built in with a mic/voice recoder, as does my phone..i find this an invaluable tool in saving important info

By: SpikeSpiegel

SpikeSpiegel — Sun, 19 Jun 2005 20:30:30 +0000

I tried this today, It worked well. I went to the park and worked on some ideas. I even got a bird to eat out of my hand:D

Thanks Steve.

By: Crimson

Crimson — Sun, 19 Jun 2005 17:49:43 +0000

Working in other places is sort of like listening to music when you work. You’d think it’d be distracting; who knows, maybe it is. Yet still, you can be extremely effective and get great work done, often better than if you were not “distracted”. Sometimes the mind needs the right kind of “distraction”.

By: enque

enque — Sun, 19 Jun 2005 11:31:01 +0000

Dear Arthur Langereis:
Nice to meet you!
First of all,thank you for pointing out two grammar errors im my post.
I’ve already caught your ideas what you wanted to remind me of:
1)”some folded-up paper” means “any kind of paper material” .
2)At first,I didn’t understand the phrase”there over e-mail” in the last paragraph.so I thought it over and then I came to know that ‘there’ was used as an intensive.
What’s more,I’m really excited and happy to find you’re interested in eastern cultures after reading your post and visiting your website carefully and critically.But it’s a bit unfortunate that I can’t help you provide a complete,efficient,multi-perspective services about eastern cultures,whereby for now I haven’t correctly express what I want in English though I am proficient in Chinese and successfully passed the CET-6(College English Test) which is difficult for most of Chinese mainland graduates to overcome.
What’s fortunate is that I can recommend several extraordinary great Chinese people to you.They not only do well in English and Computer Science but also in the research of traditional eastern cultures (ancient Chinese philosophy,for example).All of them are so enthusiastic that they must be willing to communicate almost a whole range of ideas and thoughts with you,of course,you are also a genius:
1)Dr.kaifulee, corporate vice president of the Natural Interactive Services Division(NISD) at Microsoft Corp., the founder of http://www.kaifulee.com which is created for all of Chinese mainland students who are at sea in regard to personal growth and their studies .please remember that kaifulee@kaifulee.com is his e-mail address.
2)Crest, a senior researcher at the headquarter of Microsoft Corp. and an MVP of the forum of http://www.kaifulee.com.He is proficient not only in all-important Chinese but also in english,which is what I want to make a point of.please remember that cherrycrest@hotmail.com is his e-mail address.
3)屠恩海tuenhai,vice CEO of a network company in Pudong,Shanghai,China.he says “Tuenhai同学对中国传统文化有一定研究，对网络及英语最感兴趣,于哲学最有心得” in the last several lines of his each post.of course,you can contact him via msn:king#tuenhai.com or via his personal website(www.tuenhai.com)if you like.
Sincerely,Thank you for reading my post!

By: Harvey Wilson

Harvey Wilson — Sun, 19 Jun 2005 09:03:06 +0000

Some of my best ideas have come while doing “non-work” things like showering, driving on the open road or running. Generally I have regarded the best situation for ideas to pop up spontaneously is when I am doing routine things (like those listed above) that do not require too much concentration. If it is possible to promote the flow of these ideas by changing the environment that would be great.

As an aside, here in South Africa if someone referred to “folded up papers” the automatic assumption would be that they were newspapers.

By: Arthur Langereis

Arthur Langereis — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 23:11:21 +0000

Enque: “paper” is both the singular form of a noun meaning “paper sheets” and a more general name for (collections of) paper material. In this case it is used in the latter sense. “some folded-up papers” would be more specific as it would imply the papers being sheets of (writing)paper. In this case, it could mean any kind of paper material. The difference is one of nuance. In general you would use the more general form as used by Steve.

Also, it should be “IS what I’ve corrected right?” since the verb references “what I’ve corrected,” which is singular. Another way to put it is “Are my corrections right?” In this case you should use “are” as it references the plural form “my corrections.”

Anyway, take everything I say with a grain of salt as I’m not a native English speaker; I’m from the Netherlands. The English language as a topic is also probably a bit too off-topic for this blog. I’m starting Mandarin Chinese lessons in September. I understand you are Chinese? Perhaps I can practice what I learn there over e-mail? Contact me via my website if you like.

By: Duff

Duff — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 17:56:34 +0000

For those of us who live in paradise (otherwise known as Boulder, CO), I find that going on a hike with some 3×5 cards and a pen (otherwise known as a Hipster PDA) is a great way to get away from the laptop and come up with some fresh ideas.

Walking especially is great for getting new ideas flowing. It gets you moving, but isn’t distracting, letting you enter into a natural Flow state.

By: enque

enque — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 02:52:19 +0000

I find there are two spelling mistakes in steve’s post:
“just a pen and some folded up paper”should be “just a pen and some folded–up paperS”;
“the buxom cocktail waittresses “should be “the buxom cocktail waitresses ”
Are what I’ve corrected right?

By: Bert

Bert — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 01:03:18 +0000

Steve–

I posted a similar article about changing one’s environment and how it can boost one’s productivity. Turns out there is a little biology behind it. By the way, congrats on the ToastMasters OpEd piece.

Bert

By: John Richardson

John Richardson — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 22:51:40 +0000

Interesting idea Steve. I can just imagine the pit bosses watching you on hidden camera as you were writing things in front of a slot machine. I picked up a little digital voice recorder a while back that I carry with me in the car. When I get an idea I can record it while I’m driving. It’s a great little tool when pen and paper won’t work. I’m hoping to find some usable voice translation software that might work with it.

I also find that putting a pad of paper and a pen next to the bed work great for those midnight revelations. It’s funny, but some of my best ideas come to me in the middle of the night. If I don’t write them down… they are gone.