Possible things to do when just standing around???

[Deighve]

There are significant portions of time in my life right now where I am just standing around b/c my presence is required. Oftentimes it is important for me to pay attention, but oftentimes it is now whatsoever. Even so, my presence is still required and I cannot work on a computer, notepad, palm etc., and at this point this can't be renegotiated.

Is there any good way to make use of this time you can think of? The only thing I could possible come up with was maybe reciting some affirmations in my head.

[Barry]

1) focus your brain power on solving the most pressing problem you are working on when not standing around.

2) discrete isometric exercises.

3) think about/plan what you will be doing the next time you are enjoying recreation.

[kewms]

You can review anything that you can keep in your head, and can make mental notes for the next time you have access to paper. In addition to the content of the review itself, this is an excellent opportunity to exercise your memory.

Possibilities for mental review include:
* epic poetry, much of which predates writing anyway. If the ancient Greek bards could memorize all of the Illiad, so can you.
* chess puzzles and/or chess openings. This is challenging, since it requires good visualization skills, but it will definitely improve your game.
* anatomy: bones in the hand, muscles in the hand, etc. Probably only of interest to medical students, but at least your own body can serve as a cue.
* foreign language vocabulary. Particularly for character-based languages such as Chinese, this is also a visualization challenge. If you like, you can start with objects in your environment, then add verbs and start building sentences.
* things in your environment. Observe the scene in front of you. Then look away, and mentally reconstruct the previous scene in as much detail as possible. Over time, add more detail with less observation time. Trains both observation and memory skills.
* visualization exercises for athletic activities
* (on edit) Anything mathematical. Digits of pi, digits of e, trigonometric equalities, first n prime numbers, equations related to any technical field, etc.

If this torture will last longer than a few weeks, you might want to consider letting your hair grow for the duration. Eventually, it will be long enough to hide ear buds, increasing your possible diversions dramatically.

Good luck,

Katherine

[memobug]

Could you listen to podcasts, foreign language tapes, seminars, books on tape?

Regards,

Matt

[cornell]

If you can direct your focus elsewhere for chunks of time, the following would be productive:

• Catch up on your reading - bring your Read/Review folder for FYI reading, and bring project folders or your Action Support folder for critical reading.
• Bring project materials (they're in folders, right?) and do some planning/status review.
• If you can make a phone call, do "call" actions.
• If you can bring your laptop, do actions requiring it.
• Do a brain dump, then (if you have your tools available), process that into projects and actions.
• Do a mini review: Actions, projects, waiting for.

That said, I'd like to hear more about *why* you have to be present. I'm thinking 4-Hour Work Week here - I don't know what your job is, but I might want to ponder this definition of waste (from the lean world):

Any thing or process that does not add value to a product.

Just thinking here!

[Brent]

Fantastic suggestions!

My two cents: Can you slip a pack of index cards and a pencil or pen into your pocket? If so, you can pull those out and use them to jot down ideas, organize plans, practice your penmanship, sketch, or whatever.

[emkay]

I knit in situations like this.

It allows me to actually pay attention to what is being said, rather than fidgeting and wishing I was anywhere else but there.

The first time, it startled others - now they are used to it, and one or two other people in my division bring theirs too.

Emkay

[mephisto]

Having been in a similar situation where I couldn't bring anything with me, the thing I did was memorizing poetry. I kept a small piece of paper with a poem in my pocket that I took out now and then.

[smaffin]

Holy cow. I think I'd take the opportunity to "do nothing" as asked to. Relax, you'll be back at the grind before you know it.

Is it that bad to have a span of time without actually doing, or planning to do something? On second thought....this is most likely blasphemous in the GTD world and I'm about to barred from the forum

Just to add something that at least looks valuable to the string, I find myself brainstorming to-do's, or NA's for another project. With any luck I manage to have a 3x5 card so I can sneak some notes for later processing.

[12hourhalfday]

I only have a couple.
1. meditate, take the opportunity to think about absolutely nothing!
2. Pay as close attention as possible to everything, no matter how useless the information is, paying attention to body language of the people you work with might come in handy later. You can also consider this one a mediation as well. It will help give you practice for paying attention to boring conversations you actually have to pay attention to.