Ragnar Freyr - Personal blog
But I’ve also found this: the best times, the most fun, the most rewarding things have happened not because of my plans, but because of my planning.— Plans
An Ideal Day
The Ideal Day is a fun little mental exercise I’ve been doing for the past three years. What you do in this exercise is write down what your ideal day could look like. Think about routine, not something you do once in a while that excites you. Although shark diving could be your passion it is rarely what you aspire to do every day of the year. What kind of a routine would leave you fulfilled and balanced at the end of the day?
I find the exercise to be a great way to introduce new, positive and desired habits to my weekday routine. Like meditation or cooking at home. Most of the time though, my day doesn’t look anything like my ideal day. But that’s OK. Life is unpredictable and one has to let it be.
Right now, my ideal day looks like this:
I wake up early. Check and record my pulse. Drink a glass of water. Weigh myself. Dress in clean clothes. Make a smoothie for breakfast. Read an article or two. Brush my teeth. Get ready for work. Walk or bike to work (Preferably with the dog). Read email and plan the day. Work until noon on projects that I love. Stretch. Make and eat a healthy lunch. Check social networks / post to channels. Work until I feel like not working anymore. Walk or bike home. Exercise. Meditate. Take a shower. Cook a healthy dinner. Clean. Take the dog for a walk with my wife. Enjoy the evening relaxing/having fun with friends or family. Floss and brush my teeth. Read a little bit. Go to sleep early.
So if someone has given you a beautiful new device, they’ve given you a gift that will cost you probably thousands of dollars…— » Kindle & iPad are marketing devices :mnmlist
In hopes you seek out family and stay by the hearth this season I wish you a happy holiday. The day now grows longer and soon the warm summer will arrive. May your endeavors in the new year be joyous and fruitful.
Three web services I am excited about
Freckle
Freckle is a time tracking application for freelansers, consultants and small teams by Amy Hoy and Thomas Fuchs. The cheery interface design and the fantastic visual tools make this time tracking app well worth the monthly subscription. The reports interface is especially helpful. Read the manifesto.
Readmill
Recently launched book site Readmill is just beautiful, both in design and functionality. The core feature are book highlights that you can share with your friends and comment on. The Explore section of the site is great for finding new reads. Especially if you browse users. I can’t wait for them to add manual book tracking. Check out my profile.
Quora
You’ve probably heard about Quora. It’s essentially a big questions and answers site where all content is created by the users. You can follow topics you are interested in and participate by asking or answering questions. I haven’t been very active on the site but I’ve found some really interesting threads and topics to follow. What I like the most is that I still haven’t found a snarky comment or the usual unkindness that you find on other sites… yet. Read more about Quora.
When you create products with soul, someone will find the time to write about them or recommend to friends and colleagues. Two of these were recommended to me by friends. These products are worth talking about.
So the next time you share, whether it’s a link, a gift or a hug, share with intention, and remember that it’s not only what you share that matters, but how you share.— Meaning – Surat Says
The process of writing exposes your own ignorance and half-baked assumptions.— collision detection: The art of public thinking
The Firestarter single came out in 1996. I ordered the CD by phone and waited anxiously for the shipment to arrive to the posthouse of the small Northern fishing town I called home. Being an avid Prodigy fan at the time I collected their singles and memorabilia and even had two copies of their biography.
I accidentally stumbled upon this video today. It reminded me that 15 years ago I absolutely loved this song. I played it over and over and over on my parent’s new CD player. (And they loved it!)
But it also occured to me that back then, there were almost no channels to express or share my fascination instantly with others.
I loved the song for what it was. There was no social media to influence my opinion. No instant feedback of popularity. No YouTube comments saying this song was horrible and Keith shouldn’t really sing. Back then, I had the cover in my hand, the CD in the player and just listened — alone — really digging the beats. And when I was done, I didn’t post it to Facebook or Twitter. I brought the CD to the youth center and played it for a small group of friends.
I kinda miss this sense of isolated appreciation.
(Source: youtube.com)
It’s funny how, in the creative process, one thing can turn into another. I started playing around in Blender the other day, randomly trying out the sculpting mode. The idea was to make some sort of a polygon rock. I didn’t know I would end up using the final render in a new Breakbeat.is poster. This is the before and after.
The Nanny
I’ve been having concerns about my time spent on certain social media sites lately. I feel that sites like Facebook, Twitter and Google Reader are taking up too much of my time and not contributing much real value, relative to the time spent.
I found a fantastic Chrome plugin called Nanny that helps you limit the time you spend on Facebook and other websites by either letting you block the sites during certain hours or giving you the option of a time quota. It’s for those of us who don’t have the self-discipline shut things off and work!
I started by allowing 60 minutes of Facebook time each day, thinking that would severely change my news feed consumption.
What I surprisingly found out after few days of using the plugin is that in reality I actually spend much less than 60 minutes a day on Facebook. I always had about half an hour or more left of my quota. Could it be that I spend less than 30 minutes a day on this alleged monster time-suck?
The closer I looked at my stats I came to the realization that it’s not the total time spent that is the problem. The problem is the fragmented nature of my social media consumption. I realized those 30 minutes contain a copious amount of seperate visits each day. Every visit breaks my flow and introduces a mental context switch that tends to slow down my work recovery.
I haven’t found the perfect solution yet. (Blocking certain hours will surely help.) However, these results have made me more mindful of my online habits and I’m already hitting the Facebook bookmark less and less each day. I also took time to group some of my contacts to family and close friends so I can quickly scan news items and interact with people I care most about without being dristracted by the awesome India Talent Show video my former school mate posted.
This tiny insight has made my day much more productive and I don’t feel like I’m missing anything much. In fact, I feel like I am creating more and consuming less. And that’s a good thing, right?
Some of these Photoshop actions by bjango are rather helpful. I’ve already used Enlarge Canvas two times today.
I’m pleased to announce that yesterday my print, titled Fauna, was selected to be included in the Society6 Shop. Check it out!
