Comments on: Our own natural rhythm

By: Fluffy Links – Saturday August 1st 2009 « Damien Mulley

Fluffy Links – Saturday August 1st 2009 « Damien Mulley — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 13:08:29 +0000

[...] Kottke talks about creativity and distance from your area. Trying totally new non-linked things. New rhythms. *Cough* [...]

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:06:26 +0000

This is excellent. Thanks Damien. Left the 9-5 behind myself a while back. Feels like I’m beginning to find a different rhythm. Looking forward to it

By: niall larkin

niall larkin — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:54:40 +0000

For optional sleeping patterns. And their effects on creativity.

The Waste.
The Siesta.
The Everyman 1,2,3
The Uberman.

http://dustincurtis.com/sleep.html

By: Stan

Stan — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:09:28 +0000

Damien: Great post with lots of valid points, not least the importance of good breathing! The 9-5 routine is very unnatural yet it dictates the structure of so many lives. (It did mine, for long enough.) Take people out of it and things are liable to shake up for them; they escape ruts, break old habits, discover new potential. With a little luck and encouragement, people’s innate creativity comes into its own.

Sleep experiments show that when people live without any sense of 24-hour time, they often revert to biphasic sleep – a few hours at night, a few more in the late morning or afternoon – a pattern that was much more prevalent before light bulbs and caffeine addiction took over. (Siestas and afternoon naps point to the stubbornness of the habit.) The technological ‘revolution’ was supposed to free up time for people to use at their leisure. Instead the rat race continued and people kept running.

Obviously some structure to a day is useful, but there’s an immeasurable difference between being able to decide it for yourself and having it imposed on you, especially if the latter involves work that you’re not very satisfied by. Also, the amount of freedom that someone can eke out depends on a lot of things, e.g. family responsibilities, business obligations, social environment, personality. But those who can run with it often encounter a weird and wonderful blurring between work and play.

By: Red Links 30/06/09 : Alexia Golez

Red Links 30/06/09 : Alexia Golez — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:23:53 +0000

[...] wrote an excellent post on finding the beat. That creative [...]

By: Barney Austen

Barney Austen — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:17:46 +0000

Brilliant post Damien. Got out of the 9-5 culture 1.5 yrs ago and what you say about finding the rhythm is absolutely true. Totally different type of feeling – basically “in control” of my destiny has been the outcome. Embarking on a new business venture created out of ideas coming to fruition by giving myself time to think and to enjoy the world around me. Cheers.

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:57:33 +0000

Great post Damien!

A lot of what you say has rung true for me. I took 15 months out to travel the world, learn new languages, see different cultures and surf and it changed me quite a lot (for the better I hope). I completely agree that you need time out and can’t concentrate on one subject all the time – you need to give your brain a break!!

BTW, have you ever looked into NLP?

Keep it up…..m

By: Joe Scanlon

Joe Scanlon — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:53:33 +0000

I’d guess pen on the train.

By: Suzy

Suzy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:59:33 +0000

Got to be the one written by pen in the office…love it!

By: Joe Scanlon

Joe Scanlon — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:40:00 +0000

Plenty to think about here Damien. I’d agree with MJ on the self-employment front. I really like when you churn out these think posts. Looking forward to the next one already!