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Walking in circles within the house and talking to myself out loud: I do this all the time, especially when I need to figure out a particularly hard problem (an
by napsterbr 6y ago
Walking in circles within the house and talking to myself out loud: I do this all the time, especially when I need to figure out a particularly hard problem (an algorithm to solve a particular issue, an architecture that handles my business needs etc).
Last time I started a new project and worked on its architecture, I walked over 10km in a single day, according to my cellphone pedometer. In a tiny apartment! This trend lasted for a month, after which I sat down to actually implement this.
I thought it was just me being autistic but it's interesting to know others do it as well :)
I never worked in an office setting, but I can only imagine it would be extremely prejudicial to people like me and the author. Restraining us to a table would limit our output for the sole reason we would be unable to pace and think (no space and too much social pressure).
Anecdata: sometimes I visit my parents and work from their place. I can't pace there because I don't feel comfortable doing so, and that alone is enough for me to not be able to tackle challenging problems there.
- porkbrain 6y agoYour comment and this article brings me great joy. I do the same, I walk in circles even in tiny spaces. I like to put notebook and a pen on a table and sketch my thought process. At home, this earned me the nickname "satellite". I felt uncomfortably self aware when I just moved in with my partner. Fortunately she finds it soothing.
- africanboy 6y agoI do that too When I work from the office I take long walks outside when I need to think I also "occupied" one (very) small meeting room and made it my private office, so I can close the door when I need it But honestly sometimes talking about the problem with other people works as well as talking with yourself or the laptop
- bikeshaving 6y agoI find walking in small circles is even better if you have a tiled floor which can be felt tactilely underfoot. If I ever own a house, the one thing I’ll focus on is kitchen tiling with an interesting pattern.
- kgwxd 6y agoWhen I'm on the phone for work, and no one is home, there is a rug in my living room with patters at various angles, just large enough to fit my feet, I tend to move around the rug like I'm following those numbered dance steps you see on the floor in dance classes.
- bavell 6y agoAh good, it's not just me haha
- simias 6y agoI'm the same as you and I did use to work in an office setting. I'd just go outside and walk around the building. Sometimes I'd walk for an hour aimlessly around the city, just talking to myself like a lunatic.
- gonzo41 6y agoNo harm at all getting your steps up for the day.
- _underfl0w_ 6y agoThis is also a fantastic way to do the opposite - bring a book/reader/tablet/phone (and maybe a fruit or snack) and power through some learning materials.
- wruza 6y agoYeah, talking to yourself is usually attributed to being a psycho, but I do this too. In crowdy environments I just do it quietly enough to be perceived as mumbling, as many other people. I didn’t read tfa, but my guess is that with more senses involved, you get better short term memory coherence. Waiving your hands around the board or looking at pen-paper and drawing also helps. When in doubt, walk. When it is really hard, bathroom.
- dmingod666 6y agoJust get a bluetooth headset, nobody will question you. You can record yourself on it too, helpful to playback later..
- tartoran 6y agoWhy bother, who cares what other people say? The recording thing is not necessarily a bad idea but who has time to go through hours of mumbling? I’d record main ideas and summaries to have them be converted into text and revised. But ultimately the best way to go about this is to write things down either electronically or on paper and use self talking and circular walking as aids to this process
- sanedigital 6y agoI use Otter[1] for this: I put my Airpods in transparent mode and then record my rambling while I walk my dog. Otter transcribes the whole thing and then I can use the transcription as a rough draft to then rewrite into something concrete. Works great. 1: https://otter.ai/ https://otter.ai/
- hertzrat 6y ago> Why bother, who cares what other people say? Your boss might not understand “Who should we give the promotion to?” “How about Joe, he’s been killing it this quarter” “That guy talks to himself. I’m worrying about him killing ME next quarter. Let’s promote Bob instead”
- adkadskhj 6y ago
- ab3rC1te 6y agoYeah, just don't speak near any cell phones since many ideas have been stolen from people that spoke out loud when big brother and high end elites that have money can rob the little man of his ideas. What a world we live in now.
- eternalban 6y agoThe method works. The only open question is clockwise or counter-clockwise? [p.s. I've gotten good result with elongated ovals too, btw. The main feature seems to be that the body is "going back to where one started". This seems to help the thinking process.]
- mojuba 6y agoFunny to see so many people doing the same. My current apartment's topology is such that I can make 8's in it (while thinking of course). I'd never think a simple change in topology can make your thought process a little bit more interesting.
- agumonkey 6y agoI do walk when talking to people on the phone. I think it's because my brain approach communication as a problem to solve u_u;
- Roritharr 6y agoMy wife significantly reduced my Home-Office productivity by forbidding me to walk around while calling or designing things. She has problems concentrating when I do it so I understand, it's a major reason to move to a larger house next month.
- contingencies 6y agoBuy her a VR headset and a book on memory palaces: cheaper than a house!
- mojuba 6y agoWalking absolutely helps and I do that a lot whenever I have a chance i.e. alone, but I'm not sure about talking out loud. In my mind an architectural/software problem is a structural thing, or a puzzle you need to put together mentally. Talking would only distract me from solving it.
- imposter 6y agoI do this too, infact I built a walking desk to just assist this habit of mine, so that I can think while looking at my screen and then also walk at the same time. I have been using it for the past couple of days, and till now tbh it doesn't really feel the same as it does with walking around the room but I'm slowly getting used to it, and my knee pain from sitting is gone
- anonytrary 6y agoI'm the exact same, although unlike some others, I only talk to myself when I'm alone or with someone who I am comfortable with. I've gotten complaints from neighbors below me at least twice due to this. Apparently it sounds like "a loud TV is on all the time". It would suck to live underneath someone who paces 5 miles a day in their apartment. I've made an effort to be quieter, but I can't imagine not being able to do this. I started recording my thoughts on my phone (using low quality because I have hundreds of hours of recordings now). It really helps and is an alternative to using a journal.
- wodenokoto 6y agoThis made me think of Scrooge mcDuck from the 90’s Disney cartoon Duck Tales. He does the same thing all the time and in one episode even so much as to leave a deep, donut shaped trench in his floor.
- latexr 6y agoIt’s the “worry room”, originally from the comics: https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Worry_Room https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Worry_Room
- tomgp 6y agoI’m a pacer too and recently found my daughter seems to have inherited the trait the upshot being that we occasionally collide whilst we pace around the kitchen muttering to ourselves. Hopefully with time we’ll be able to work out collision free routes
- rmdashrfstar 6y agoThat’s adorable and made me smile :)
- djeiasbsbo 6y agoWow. I am not autistic but I do the exact same thing. Walking in a circle and talking to myself to solve a problem or come up with new ideas. I work in an office but since Covid-19 I have been working remotely which has been extremely beneficial for me for this reason.
- Timpy 6y agoMy first programming job was building tools to make some warehouse work more efficient. At the outset I had most of the warehouse to myself and I walked around the warehouse talking out loud to myself to solve my programming problems. Once the warehouse was populated with workers and I was stuck to my desk I realized how much I needed that walking. Now that I'm working from home I do laps around my kitchen while solving tough problems.
- the_spacebyte 6y agoThis is the same for me barring the walking. Usually I'm at my best focus in front of a whiteboard and talking to myself out loud, because walking distracts me. I work in a busy office where there's a lot of noise (which I'm sensitive to) and where I can't speak to myself loudly, so I feel I'm not very productive. Teleworking has been awesome
- Radim 6y agoWhy walk inside though? All my complex architectures and systems were also conceived while pacing, so I hear you, but I never considered walking in circles in a room. Now I'm curious – is that better than walking outside? Why not walk in nature or a park? I understand not wanting to walk in a dangerous / unknown area (the pace regime implies full autopilot), but a tiny apartment sounds extreme. And isn't the proximity of external tools – like a computer – distracting to your thought process?