So I decided I’d head towards the station, and catch the train one stop to Canley. If you are a ‘normal’ walker just wanting to get from A to B, then nothing could be more pointless! Aside from ‘wasting’ money on a train ticket (well, actually not much more than jumping on the bus), and waiting for the train (a big five minutes, I wouldn’t have bothered if one wasn’t due), the train doesn’t actually get you any closer to my house. I live roughly the same distance from Coventry and Canley stations.

So why take the train at all? Shouldn’t I just go to London, and take the District Line to Barking? Well actually, no. To my mindset, this seemingly pointless journey made perfect sense. Firstly, it gave me somewhere to finish my lunch – I didn’t want to walk with it, and as someone who spends hours in front of a computer, I like to get out when I can. But more important than that (and no Tom-Tom, dick or Harry will ever tell you this), it is quite simply a much nicer walk. So instead of 15 minutes of boredom, I had 15 minutes of walking through the park.

Not to mention the fact that I am a total anorak for trains, but I still didn’t get my question answered about the ‘Class 351/2’s’ – that’s for another blog at another time – and it really isn’t that geeky, there is a genuine reason for wanting to know. I’m sure you can’t wait to find out!

Now back to work.

So, how many windows do you have open at any time when you are running your computer. Do you use two or more screens – I have two widescreen monitors, which are generally great for increasing productivity, but this can sometimes just mean that you have more windows open and more chaos.

Right now, I am in chaos mode, but at some stage, I will call time, say enough is enough, and detach that modem. In the meantime, here’s my count – 8 Internet Explorer Windows, which might include several sub windows, Outlook, Dragon Naturally Speaking (Voice Recognition, but when I am in un-disiplined mode like now, I switch to conventional typing), 3 Excel spreadsheets, Flash, SQL Datatabase server, Dreamweaver, one Sykpe conversation – thankfully not active! Enough! I’m not even going to begin to count.

I think I have reached the point where I need to start closing down some windows and pulling out some plugs! Is this way of working productive – well, yes, stuff is getting done, but there is no routine to it, everything is happening in a random and chaotic manner. Sometimes that can be nice, but it is generally just totally frustrating as nothing seems to ever get done.

The solution? Switch off that modem, and set out some clear tasks. Get back to taking clear breaks, and bring the week back to making a decent start in the morning, so I can be finished by this time on a Friday evening!

Have a great weekend!

Over and out,

The Mind Pilot!