October 2015 | Pixar makes me FEEL
I don’t know how you guys feel, but I’m usually blown away by Pixar’s ability to make me feel something (and cry unabashedly) while watching their movies. (I didn’t know what Up was about when I went to the theater, and then 20 minutes later, I was a blubbering mess, and I was like, “Why, Pixar, why?" And then I laughed for 40 more minutes and emerged from the theater with all my emotions wrung out.) Part of the Pixar secret is their willingness to dive deeply into their subject matter, to elevate mundane details, so our subconscious can tell us what our eyes don’t see. Related: Can we take a road trip on Route 66 for research purposes?
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PIXAR'S SECRET DESIGN SAUCE
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CREATIVE EXERCISES FOR CREATIVE TEAMS
An excellent use of time for our next team telepresence? I think yes.
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ON ONLINE DATING AND THE GRAMMAR BIAS
[My manager] Craig and I should hire out our editorial prowess to people seeking love online. The editor in me loves the title of this article in the Wall Street Journal, "What’s Really Hot on Dating Sites? Proper Grammar.” Apparently only personal hygiene mattered more than good grammar (especially to women) in attracting a mate through an online dating site. (Question: How does one express personal hygiene through a computer monitor or phone screen?)
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I admit freely that I don’t always follow the 90-minutes-of-focused-work / 20-minute-break /rinse-and-repeat productivity cycle, but, man, when I do, it works for me, and it feels hella good (to paraphrase Gwen Stefani). In this age of immediate gratification (read: distraction ‘round every corner), I find it tough to break free of distraction to really focus. But when I reign in the distractions and focus focus focus, the results are awesome. Here’s how.
EMBRACE THE 90/20 CADENCE TO MAXIMIZE FOCUS AND PRODUCTIVITY
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GRACEFUL WAYS TO SET BOUNDARIES
I love learning how other people phrase things that I would naturally respond to awkwardly. (As an example of my awkwardness, please re-read the prior sentence.) This 99u article gives helpful tips on how to say no nicely.