Posted August 18, 2010 by Karen Doherty
in Editorial | 1 comment »
I have a complicated relationship with vacation time. I long for time off to read, putter around the yard, write, walk on the beach, go explore a different place. In short, to do the things I don’t have time or opportunity for during the week, or energy to do on the average weekend.
On the other hand, I dread the backlog of work that starts piling up when I take some time off. I get so exhausted trying to “catch up” that the benefits of vacation have evaporated within a day or two of getting back to work. In addition, the week before vacation I usually work like a manic to “get everything done” and in the process get even more tired and stressed.
Sound familiar?
So how to make the re-entry less stressful? I am going to focus on the immediate–answer retailer and customer email and calls, and handling that week’s deadlines. I am not going to “catch up” and do more besides. The work of the week will simply be to get back in touch and field any urgent request.
One way I make my job more interesting, but also a lot more work, is following up on opportunities. This could be new business relationships, or P.R., or product innovations or ideas. This is partly for my own stimulation and competitive spirit, but it is also from fear–because of the economy I am afraid to miss something that could make a difference.
Readjusting my perspective, it seems passing over two or three weeks out of 50 is not a big impact. The gain in energy and clarity from vacation time offsets any missed opportunities.
Do you struggle with “taking vacation” vs. staying in touch with work constantly? Is “vacation time” truly possible in this economy?
Posted August 17, 2010 by Leah Hoffmann
in Editorial, Planning Tips | 4 comments »
Image via Marcin Wichary
Last week, Art Decker presented some excellent research into the neurological benefits of writing. It made me wonder if there’s not something similar going on with maps and GPS devices. My parents visited earlier this summer, and they stayed in a hotel that’s about a 10-minute drive from where I live. I offered to give them directions, but my dad, ever the gadget geek, told me he would just use his new GPS.
To get here, you have to follow 9th Street under the BQE, where it makes a little jog to the right and then the left. It sounds simple, but there’s a lot going on at that intersection: the entrance to the Battery Tunnel, the ramp to the Eastbound BQE, truck traffic, other roads joining up and veering off at awkward angles… If you haven’t looked at a map and/or been prepped for the madness, it doesn’t do much good to hear your GPS tell you to take a slight left in 30 feet. My dad ended up on the on-ramp to the tunnel, and had to stop and ask a cop how to proceed from there, because of course his GPS was already calculating the route he would need to take if he continued through it. I’m not saying my directions would have eliminated the possibility for error, but I definitely think they would have been easier to follow!
There doesn’t seem to be much scientific data on the topic, though a Canadian researcher has suggested that “overreliance on gps… will result in our using the spatial capabilities of the hippocampus less, and that it will in turn get smaller.” She’s not the only one who’s worried — anecdotal evidence suggests that plenty of people are afraid of losing their navigational abilities.
No issue like this has to be either/or, but I’m curious: what do you think? Is GPS making us stupid?
Posted August 16, 2010 by Leah Hoffmann
in Editorial, Planning Tips | 5 comments »
Image via zappowbang
The QWERTY keyboard was developed in the late 19th century to make it harder for people to type quickly, and thus prevent typewriters from jamming. It’s been with us ever since, even though jams are no longer much of a problem in the era of computers and keyboards.
Usability experts have long been dreaming of a different way of doing things, and according to Virginia Heffernan’s latest column in the Times Magazine, they may soon get their way. Apparently, the iPad keyboard is “chorded” so that you enter characters by pressing multiple keys at the same time. You can use the same setup on your iPhone. I don’t have either of those devices, and I’ll admit that I’m a bit baffled by how it really works, but you can read more about it here.
Whenever I visit a foreign country, I’m amazed at how difficult it is to unlearn the way that I’m used to typing. German keyboards are quite similar to American ones — though they make it easier to insert vowels with umlauts — so that’s not much of a change. But French keyboards, mon Dieu! You have to shift to get a period, a bunch of letters are in different places, and you shift for numbers, too. Composing the simplest of emails suddenly turns into a tedious task.
Obviously, the fact that people are used to a particular system is no inherent reason not to change, but while I’m happy to experiment, the truth is I don’t have much reason to abandon a system I’ve grown adept at using well, and quickly. Especially because I know I won’t see immediate benefits — I’ll have to relearn how to type first. One hates to sound so reflexively anti-innovation, but there you have it.
What do you think? Have you ever experimented with a non-QWERTY keyboard?
Posted August 13, 2010 by Leah Hoffmann
in Pens, Paper & People | Add your comment »
When it comes to crafting, I really never got beyond elementary school. (Though I’m still determined to make a quill pen, once I get my hands on the right knife!)
I defend myself with the assertion that most elementary school projects are actually pretty fun. To wit: making paper snowflakes, which I did earlier this week while playing with my new shredder scissors. No, it’s not seasonal — though I certainly wouldn’t mind if New York temperatures were a bit cooler — and it’s not really age appropriate. But it was nonetheless a nice break from an otherwise adult day…
Posted August 12, 2010 by Leah Hoffmann
in Editorial, Pens, Paper & People | 5 comments »
Handwriting is influenced by a number of different factors: age, patience, personality, where and how you learned to write… And although it’s a bit trivial, I love thinking about how handwriting habits evolve. I learned to write in the US, for example, but my father’s family is German, and I remember, at some point, deciding that I liked the way he wrote his K’s — something like a lopsided V with a stick angled off to one side, rather than the perpendicular line with sideways V we were taught in school. I’d now be pretty hard-pressed to write them any other way.
In junior high, I saw how my friend Elsie wrote her F’s starting from the base of the letter rather than the upper curve. After a bit of experimentation, I got used to writing them that way, too, and still do to this day. Ditto for the number 9, which I start and the base and curve, like my Russian friend Katya. I got used to using European 1′s back when I lived there, but I don’t do that anymore so as, first of all, to avoid confusion with American 7′s, but also because I suspect it might be a little pretentious. (I have, however, happily written my 7′s with a little slash through them since I was a child.)
In that sense, handwriting is like many other seemingly straightforward, insignificant habits: poke around for a bit and you can learn a lot about a person’s aspirations and affectations and patterns of thought.
I remember admiring the way an Austrian friend wrote her R’s back when I lived in Vienna, but by then it was too late to change.
Posted August 11, 2010 by Karen Doherty
in Editorial, Pens, Paper & People | Add your comment »
Browsing the counters at Fahrney’s Pens in Washington, DC, I noticed some beautiful hand-lettered signs. They were made by one of the employees. She was kind enough to demo her skill, creating small, perfect letters effortlessly. I was amazed. I told her she ought to create a font from her hand-writing.
A few days later, I was busy cleaning out a closet and came upon an old Remington Rand typewriter. I decided I wanted to start using it again–for something, maybe thank you notes. I missed the feel of the keys, and I also missed the font. (For those of you who don’t have an old typewriter handy in the closet(!), you can go to Vintage Type for a typewriter-look to your writing.
I have terrible, horrible hand-writing, but its me. That’s one of the reasons I like to write with fountain pens is that I automatically express my individuality. Writing on the computer makes it easier to read, but much less personal.
But there is an alternative: YourFonts.com allows you to create your own OpenType fonts from your handwriting. They even show some samples here. 
It will take me more than the “few minutes” they promise to carefully prepare each letter and number, follow their instructions, locate the downloaded file on my computer and then install it successfully. More like a few hours. But I’ll have time on vacation and I would like to try. I’ll share my results in a future post on Quo Vadis Blog. If anyone has done this and would like to show us your font, please send us a screenshot.
Posted August 10, 2010 by Leah Hoffmann
in Cabinet of Curiosities, Planning Tips | 3 comments »
Welcome to my new favorite office supply: shredder scissors.
I had no idea such a thing even existed until I went to the MoMA store to pick up a Muji file box and saw this pair among the desk accessories. In the end, I opted for a cheaper model on Amazon, and I am very happy with the purchase.
The idea is pretty straightforward — there are 5 parallel blades that cut thin strips as you close the scissors.
Obviously, it’s not something you’d want to use to shred a 60-page document. But it’s absolutely ideal for shredding things like credit card solicitations and whatever other scraps of paper you want to keep private. (Which is great if, like me, you’ve chucked your big electric shredder deep into your basement since it takes up too much space in your office.)
I imagine there are also plenty of crafting applications if you wanted to fringe the edge of a card, or even make your own confetti.
Posted August 9, 2010 by Guest Author
in Pens, Paper & People, Planning Tips | 8 comments »
Special treat this Monday morning: guest blogger Art Decker shares some fascinating research into the neurological benefits of writing things down.
Image via qisur
There is no substitute for a pen and paper. But the pen has to be a good pen, one that is a pleasure to write with. For some people a good pen is a plain ball point pen from the local drugstore. For others, it is a $1,000 fountain pen that comes in its own case and gives its user the feeling of painting on paper. The paper, too, must be good. If your pen scratches the paper, writing things down will not be a pleasure — and you won’t do it.
I can hear the naysayers already. Why not just use an electronic gadget? You can find to-do list and productivity software, much of which can be downloaded free, that is geared to any productivity system you like — GTD (David Allen’s Getting Things Done), ZTD (Leo Babauta’s Zen to Done), Sally McGhee’s Take Back Your Life, or Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits. Why use caveman tactics like pen and paper when you can wholeheartedly embrace the 21st century?
Because pen and paper are better for your brain, that’s why. The heart of the GTD system and other productivity systems is to get ideas out of your brain and into containers or buckets, or at least onto to-do lists and calendars. The system takes over so you don’t have to think.
Here’s the problem with that notion, though: personally, I am in favor of thinking. I LIKE keeping information in my brain. I regard information residing in my head as a GOOD thing.
Continue reading »
Posted August 6, 2010 by Leah Hoffmann
in Beautiful Creations, Pens, Paper & People, Planning Tips | 1 comment »
Here’s some food for thought for those of you who want more space for notes in your planners… reader Massimo Camocardi, an Italian schoolteacher who has used Quo Vadis planners for years (here’s a picture of his first one from 1980), recently sent us two prototypes he devised for his President.
We don’t do product design here in the US, though we’re always happy to forward your suggestions on to France. But Karen and I still figured it’d be fun to share these designs on the blog in a sort of DIY spirit.
Continue reading »
Posted August 5, 2010 by Leah Hoffmann
in Beautiful Creations, Cabinet of Curiosities, Pens, Paper & People | 1 comment »
Whoa, this is pretty incredible: the Telegraph has a new picture gallery of Brazilian-born carpenter Dalton Ghetti’s remarkable pencil sculptures. From a boot, a button, and a saw to an entire miniature alphabet, the sculptures themselves are mind blowing. Even more amazing, according to the accompanying text:
Dalton uses three basic tools to make his incredible creations – a razor blade, sewing needle and sculpting knife. He even refuses to use a magnifying glass and has never sold any of his work, only given it away to friends.
Dalton, if you’re reading this — any chance we can be friends? I’ll ply you with Rhodia pencils, and send you all the notebooks you want…
Via BoingBoing.
