What to do When
As you all should know I’m a media geek, which means that I hardly ever get bored, because I have enough stuff waiting to be read, watched and listened to basically piling up around me and the only issue I have is that I have too little time. Unfortunately I’m not one of these people that can easily do with only a few hours of sleep as long as they have enough caffeine in their body.
This means that I’m trying to catch up on all the things and use every opportunity that I can to do this. Right now I’m listening to a podcast, which probably was a less than perfect decision, because while most of the times music helps me concentrate, spoken word usually does not.
It also means that I’m still finding out what goes good together and what does not. Ironing for example goes perfect with listening to music, audio plays or podcasts, though not that good with reading or watching TV shows. There are a few TV shows that I just watch on my computer while I’m browsing the internet or typing away or playing Spider Solitaire, while others I need to watch on the TV or my iPod. I also noticed that some shows I actually prefer to watch on my small iPod than on our large flatscreen TV. For some reason I can concentrate better on it while staring on a small screen with earplugs in and the quality (despite the small screen) is actually pretty good.
Today I realized that podcasts are perfect for driving in the car. Of course it’s only listening that you can do in the car anyway, and music is absolutely great for singing along to (picture me screaming away to Jason Mraz’s Geek in the Pink here), but when today I plugged in my iPod I noticed that I really listened closely to the podcast I was in the middle of and it was the perfect non-distracting distraction.
In the train, about everything works. I can also read and listen to music, but not read and listen to podcasts or spoken word. I also noticed that while I’m perfectly fine working or reading with music playing I sometimes have problems when the lyrics are in German. Apparently, though I understand English well enough to understand the lyrics, if I don’t want to I don’t need to pay attention to the lyrics, but German I just have to listen to the lyrics and they tend to distract me from what I’m trying to concentrate on.
Somehow I mostly listen to audio plays and sometimes podcasts when going shopping. Why? I don’t know. It’s just the way it is.
When I’m cooking and baking I can do about everything, but of course it depends on what exactly I’m preparing in the kitchen. For stuff that needs a lot of keeping an eye on, only audio works. If I have to wait around half of the time and just stir a bit from time to time, I can even read or watch videos on my iPod.
In the bathtub only reading is okay, mostly because I’m too scared that my iPod will fall in the tub, drown and die, so it’s more of a practical limitation there.
And yes, I will read during commercial breaks. I just told you, I need every damn minute of the day, so there’s no reason to waste time.
What it all boils down to is that lately I’ve changed back from my little handbag to my big one, so that not only can I carry my beloved iPod and earplugs in my pocket, I can also take two to three books (well, how should I know what I will feel like reading on my way home from work?) and my tiny JBL loudspeakers with me wherever I go. Probably a magazine, too. And yes, it is heavy, but that’s the burden you definitely have to carry when you’re a media geek.