Liz's Daily Media:
-Angie Android (fancy-pants google phone)
-email newsletters/subscriptions (NYTimes.com, salon.com, etc)
-blogs (boingboing.net, aldaily.com)
-at least 2 print books
-newspaper comics! (usually over toast and milk)
-music
2. Rank the relative amount of time you presently spend with each medium -- be as specific as you can
Most used: phone, browser (email, etc)
Least used: books, paper, specific blogs, music, TV
This can vary with my workload - eg, if I'm home I'll luxuriate in books/movies/TV (often at the same time) or if its a busy day at work, the only media i get a chance to use is a quick blog browse at lunch, therefore making it a cyber day.
3. Describe any media associated with how you perform the following school related tasks:
do math or other calculation-based homework
calculator, paper
read assignments
TV/film, other tabs open in firefox
compose a paper (answers may be different for drafting, revising + editing)
pretty much the same as straight reading - but when i'm in early composing stages, i have all sorts of things around me cyber-ly as well as physical- other tabs, notes, sketches, sources, etc.
A lot of times I get some of my best outlining and notes at work, so throw phones and people into the mix.
study for an exam
at this point I really don't have much in the way of traditional exams, but i will reread notes/texts in the few days before a test - often at my desk, which means I may or may not be browsing (because I'm silly like this, the during-study browse will often be topical, and i'll add to my notes)
conduct research / find references
I'm a tab queen when I research - I'll have several databases open, my google notebook and usually a paper pad there too.
4. Describe any media associated with how you do the following everyday tasks:
drive
I commute to kean so I get to have some uninterrupted deep attention time every day - which mayor may not pay off - depends on my mood - I never do schoolwork there, but some days I get to read, and others I just sit - which helps me read more later.
eat a meal by yourself
I love eating solo, it's me time - I tend to read a book or web article if i can't leave my desk
eat with your family/friends
it's communal time when eating with family or friends - tho meals with people my own age tend to involve phones more than strict conversation - i actually make a point of turning my phone on silent/vibrate to avoid doing this
household chores (cooking, cleaning, household repairs, work on your car)
some days i throw open the windows and blast music, others i leave a movie on - usually one i'm already familiar with so its background noise, but every so often i'll have a really kinetic day andgive a new one my attention while i fold laundry or run around and dust.
5. Describe what you do to relax or in your free time - and how you relax
I make things - there's a lot of arts and crafts - often multiple projects going on in a day, which often leads me into deep attention. Then there's reading and working on my own writing, both of which often lead to intense focus, or really competent multitasking on some days - eg I've done some of my best poems while answering phones and sending faxes. Other days I hide to write.
I dont' text that much, but I make it a real sidebar to whatever I'm doing - and I tend to call when it reaches the 5th text or so (unless I know you can't pick up) - my reasoning is that if you want to communicate that bad, I may as well set aside a few minutes for you and pay attention.
(e.g. watching TV while looking at a magazine and texting a friend)
Analyzing your patterns for attention:
a. Patterns of attention for individual activities: look back over your list and rank the individual practices listed under 3 - 5 . Use a scale of 1 - 5 where 1 is deep attention (focused on one task - creating an environment with no distractions) and 5 is hyper attention (focused on multiple channels for input - creating an environment with many distracting features). These numbers reflect your preferences for attending for individual activities.
#3
math/similar - 1
reading homework - 2
writing papers - 4
studying - 3
research - 5
#4
drive/travel - tied with eating alone for 1
eat alone - 1
eat with people - 3
chores - 5
#5
craft - 3
read - 1
draft my stuff - 5
b. Patterns of attending within activity clusters: After you have ranked all the activities you listed, give yourself a score for school activities, living/household activities + relaxation activities by averaging the numbers in each category (for example if you have 3 for math assignments, 4 for reading assignments, 2 for writing papers, and 5 for studying for exams, then your school number would be: 3+4+2+5= 14/4 categories = 3.5 (a little more on the hyper attention side than the deep attention side)
average
#3 = 3
#4 = 2.5
#5 = 3
c. Overall pattern for attention. Average all the rating numbers to get your overall pattern for attending.
~3 - of course i have to be difficult :)
6 Questions to think about.
a. In which category were you most likely to use hyper attention? in which category were you most likely to use deep attention? Or do you seem to have a consistent style (all hyper or deep attention)? How would you explain this?
I'm more likely to use HA for school and relaxation things (each scored 3), but life activities are at 2.5, so it's not that big a gap. Since the numbers are so close together, I have to say I have a consisitent medium- HA style. I have some features of DA mixed with that, but it seems to be an even blend. I have no idea why thisis - I can remember using more DA as a kid and teenager - but I can also recall some deep HA tendencies I had to modify or hide. College was more freeing because I did my work more on my own terms, and found that HA didn't exactly hold me back. I learned to manipulate it.
b. In which category was there the largest range of numbers ( for example, some activities rated 1, some rated 5). Can you explain why the range might be large for this category?
School activities got the largest range, literally 1-5. I think its because I've managed to refine/develop different styles for doing my work. For instance, many times I'll be "working on a paper", but I won't be chained to my desk - I'll fold laundry, clean, something and let the rest of my brain work on it for a while. Then, when things gel more, I can sit at my computer for a while and prepare or draft.
Partly this is because i have no supervision now (yay! maturity!) and can do pretty much as I damn well please as long as I deliver, but also I was honest with myself in that I can't sustain deep "laser beam" focus for long periods of time. I'm just not wired like that.
Some may attribute that to the internet/digital tech, but I do this with my non-tech activities - eg, reading several books at once, instead of taking one to conclusion and not touching another till I finish, or keepign multiple craft projects active, etc.
c. In which category did you have the most consistent style? Why do you think this is so?
Life activities had the most consitient style, but not by much (1,1,3,5) compared to the rest. I think it's because I like to sometimes throw myself into them for "mental health day" purposes, so I can just drift along as I fold laundry or whatever.
7. How would you characterize yourself in terms of patterns for attending? Do these numbers reflect how you would characterize yourself (in terms of attention)? What correlations or inconsistencies do you see between your feeling about how you think and these numbers? Can you explain them?
I think I'm a hybrid attender. Technically we're all HA all the time, the difference is how much you recognize it, as well as how much priority you give to each task/info stream. For instance, I'm in the cafeteria right now, I can hear things, smell things, I'm typing this - periodically I'll glance at a TV screen or people moving around. but this is what's getting the weight. Is it DA or HA? Is my post suffering for it? Who knows?!
I dont' know how much of the HA is inflated or not since I make a point of being more physically active (I'm a fidgiter, I'll get up when I'm at the computer and do things, sometimes typing standing up) to prevent screen-zombie syndrome. Not sure if its me normally or a habit I impose on myself.
Really, I'm not too concerned about my attending style as long as I get the concepts I need, and I know how to get the info necessary and to digest it, ultimately producing somethign viable. I coudl be standing on my head for all it matters, as long as I learn/accomplish.
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