Not-Working at the Computer

It has become the pervasive image of "working," now -- someone sitting at a computer.

It is so straight-forward and seemingly sensible.  You make some coffee, sit down at the desk, boot up the computer...and do work stuff.

And, yes,  I have a lot of work that is done on the computer.  Mic breakdowns.  Programming.  Writing sound effects.  Organizing calendars and communicating with email.  So this isn't an entirely wrong assumption.


I have right now a bunch of things that are coming up on deadline.  Some are shows or rentals, some more personal projects.  And as a result I have a quick breakfast, make a big mug of coffee, sit down, boot up.....and accomplish absolutely nothing.

Because even though a computer is part of what I need to do, the computer is not all of it.  I program on embedded hardware and without the hardware I can make little progress.  I'm working out mic plots and sound plots and effects for upcoming shows and these have to relate to the script, and to rehearsals -- neither of which is on the computer per se.

Sure, I could bring out the script, the hardware, the other tools I need.  The problem is one of focus...the instinct was to sit down and WORK, and going through drawers sorting hardware, or marking up script pages, isn't as straightforward as, well, booting the computer.


And the trouble is, by the time I've done the emails I have to, and checked the calendar, it seems sensible to update the blog and see what is up in forums.  And then I'm a little bored and the coffee is half-gone and I take a break by looking at some web comics.  And before you know it, half the day is gone and I've made no progress on the pressing work.

Of course by the time I've made that realization, I've been sitting at the computer all morning, and I need a break.  And some lunch.

And thus the day passes.