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| _about me | |||
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_survival, or
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The story so far: 6 months on the rocks followed my RSI meltdown. HAL2001 was a rehabilitation - my freelance debut as art-director. At the event, I gave a presentation about my experience with RSI, filmed but never webbed. It might have been easier to get into advertising at that moment, but my idealism got the better of me. I was hired by InTouch to redisign their website and consult on the topic of Internet communities. Not only was it interesting, it was sustainable. In August, I decided it was time to move back into graphical work. Two nice assignments presentyed themselves: a spread for Mute magazine, and styling work for Merel Mirage's Holy project. Then in November 2002, I melted down again. |
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So what went wrong? Why can't I keep working without endangering myself?
Part of the problem was a catastrophically poor workstation setup. Then there's my high pain threshold. And don't even ask what a neurotic perfectionist I am. Well, this time I didn't stop for long. I couldn't. Not after last time. I threw away my mouse, and went back to dong things I knew helped. I tried to learn some better ways of working. These are the rules. Are you sitting comfortably? Pay some attention to your workstation setup. Rest your shoulders aginst the back of the chair, feet flat on the floor. Try to remember to breathe. Pause from time to time. If you feel like stopping, stop. Don't obsess. Meditate. No mice. Absolutely no mice. Keystrokes when typing, a tablet for graphical work, and, very sparingly, a trackball to point and click. Stretch. Devote some part of your day to exercise. Thrash the rowing machine. Go swimming. Practise tai-chi. Under no circumstances should you take advantage of your Apple PowerBook's dual monitor capability. One screen is quite enough, and it's directly in front of you. Do not try to work and eat lunch at the same time. ..... And so on. If only it were that simple! But it seems to be working. Strangely enough, now that I've accepted that I have to live with this, I feel better about it. I'm fitter than I've been in years. Firmer abs, diminishing cellulite, great posture... what more could I want? (a life without pain, perhaps?) (02/04/03) |