Thick as a Brick (Day 8)

Updating daily is proving to be a difficult task. It turns out that I don't typically have a whole lot to say, but maybe it's good that this exercise has helped me realize that. It would probably be a good idea to spend less of my free time on things that don't engage my mind in some way. Granted, League of Legends does require strategic thinking, but I've played it so much that a lot of that is now second nature. I feel like I've reached a point of stagnation with the game where I'm not really getting any better. Granted, my skills aren't degrading, but I'm not putting a great deal of effort into improving. I can't decide if that's something I really want--I do spend a lot of time on the game, but I feel like I'd have to invest even more to become a better player. What benefit would there be in that, I wonder? Sure, there are professional players that make a lot of money doing what they do, but I think it would be silly to think that would ever be a realistic possibility. Plus, I've always had difficulty devoting myself completely to one thing--I always jump around and I always multitask. As I'm writing this entry, I have Baldur's Gate II paused in the background and I'm watching Doctor Who on another monitor.

So, that seems like something that's pretty interesting to talk about. I'm a multitasker. There are some negative consequences to this. When I have to get something done, I tend not to get it done in an extremely timely fashion because I'm probably doing a couple of different things at once. I'm not in school now, but when I was, assigned writing was a painfully slow process that very often resulted in a loss of sleep. While writing, I would be browsing the internet, maybe listening to music, watching some show, and generally having a lot of difficulty maintaining my focus. I tried a lot to just focus on the task at hand with no interruptions, but doing so felt even more punishing on my brain and I think my writing suffered for it.

I'm certain I haven't always felt this way. When I was a lot younger, writing was something I did strictly for entertainment. I'm not going to say high school ruined that for me, but I didn't have a very good time while I was there and it probably didn't help at all. I think it really fostered a negative association with writing in my mind. It was also a big part of the reason I stopped reading--something that I was doing constantly when I was younger. I would love to get back into it but I honestly don't know where to start. There are so many things that catch my attention--and perhaps most damning is the fact that multitasking while reading is pretty difficult for me. As I recall, I was never able to read while listening to music and still absorb the information. I have this obsession with absorbing content from different media and even though I have a lot of free time, I feel like I don't have the time to experience everything that I want to.

Since I have issues with becoming distracted before I finish tasks (productive or recreational), I find that its helpful to document things. For games, I have Backloggery, which keeps track of everything I'm playing, plan to play, and have completed. I also tend to take little notes and send myself emails so I remember to do things or finish up tasks I might otherwise forget. It doesn't always work (for instance, my video game backlog is enormous) but its better than not keeping track of anything at all.