Couple of weeks back I had an opportunity to find out. I had a meeting scheduled with a friend of mine to talk about his personal website in a Coffee shop. I of course had my laptop and all my stuff with me but when I reached there my friend called up and said he would be delayed by an hour or so. So here I was, with almost an hour at my disposal with nothing to do. I was not carrying my data card with me and the coffee shop had no Wi-Fi, so I was without internet (To think of now it was a good I had no internet).  

So I though why not catch up on some of my backlog of work. So I ordered a Café latte and popped open my laptop. Since a past few days I had been stuck on this layout which I was unable to focus and complete. So I started working on that layout. The first thing I did was to crank up the volume on the iPod and I was able to block out all the noise around me. With a regular intake of caffeine and music I was able to finish the layout before my friend came (although he took around 90 minutes to reach there).

I was really surprised by the outcome of this experiment. I was in new place with lot of people and noise around me but still I was able to focus on what I had to complete (and without the internet).  I guess I would try to do this more often

The video was created by McCann Erickson Portugal for Portugal’s Association for the Conservation Nature.

View the video at FWA theatre

So I thought it would be somewhat a different experience to document the current all nighter. First of all here some tips which have been helping me in pulling through the nights.

Motivate yourself - if your brains know its important for you then the body will follow. If you are not mentally prepared to not sleep, believe not even the best energy drink can help you do it. So make up your mind that you have to do it no matter what.

Plan and Focus - Make a plan for the whole night and follow it to the very detail. It is easy to get distracted if you do not have a plan it place. Avoid distractions like chatting, Net surfing and visiting your favorite social networking websites. You will get nothing done if you get entangled in all these distractions.

Preparation - A little preparation will help you a lot. Generally a shower before sitting down and a light dinner helps me stay awake longer without any help of caffeine.

No Power naps - This has never worked for me. These power naps turn into monsters that eat away all the time you wanted for work. The next think you find out that you have slept through the whole night with the task at hand unfinished.

Eat and Drink - Generally on the night that I have to stay awake, I eat a light dinner which keeps me awake. But that also results in hunger pangs during the night. So the best thing is to have a light snack, like munching on a apple or couple of cookies to cope with this. Also do not keep the food items close to you, as it always a good idea to get up, walk to the kitchen to get them. This way you also get the much needed respite from the back breaking work posture.

Also keep ice cold water with you. This tip was given to me by pixel master Shane Mielke (A.k.a. Pixelranger) and has help me all these years. If you feel sleepy drink a couple of glasses of ice cold water and watch yourself shiver off the sleep.

Music and Entertainment- I just cannot work without music and this surely helps through the nights . My iPod touch (generously gifted by my kid bro) is always with me to dish out all the fast paced trance numbers to keep me pumped up. Also avoid slow songs, they would work as a lullaby and make you miss your sleep. So its either rock or trance for me.

Sometimes I hook up my favorite movie on my second machine which somehow helps me cope up with the pressure and helps me loosen up a bit.

If all else fails its time to get some caffiene in your system - I am a caffiene junkie so I need small excuses to get it in my system. In times of crisis a cup of coffee or a Red Bull can help me stay awake for hours. There is a downside to this though, too much of it and I turn into a energised muti tasker who tries to do a lot of things at once, which of course takes away my focus and i waste lot of time. So 1 generally pace myself in such a way that I get the right amount of caffiene in me.

So this is how I pull off an all nighter, hope this helps somebody out there who has to catch up with his backlog of work in a single night ;).

I would ofcourse update this post throughout the night to report in my progress. Keep watching this space.

UPDATE I @ 3:15 AM
Status : Feeling fine till now. No signs of sleep.
Listening to : Linkin Park / Minutes to Midnight
Caffeine counter : 1 Red bull consumed
Tasks status : 80% of task one. two tasks queued.

UPDATE II @ 5:00 AM
Status : Feeling a little sleepy but still able to focus on the task at hand
Listening to : Paul Van Dyk / Politics of Dance (Disc II)
Caffeine counter : 1 Red bull consumed + 1 coffee
Tasks status : Task 1 completed. Task 2 40% Done. Task 3 queued.

UPDATE III @ 6:30 AM
Status : All Nighter Success !!! Surprisingly now I don’t feel sleepy at all but ill try to catch some ZZZ’s
Listening to : Above & Beyond / Anjunabeats (Volume III)
Caffeine counter : 1 Red bull consumed + 1 coffee
Tasks status : Task 1 completed. Task 2 completed. Task 3 abandoned.

Today Wordpress also launched their app to manage wordpress.com as well as .org powered blogs. Though a little bit late than the Typepad app, it’s here.

Connecting to your blog is easy and fast. One can also post pictures but you cannot resize them as of now. I am not posting any images as of now as I am using the iPod Touch for this post.

I am now really waiting for the iPhone to launch in India.

P.S. - my thumbs hurt now after posting this.

Last night i was just going through some photographs i had clicked on my last trip. There is this one particular picture which has been liked by a lot of people, so i fired up Photoshop and see if i can come with a  wallpaper with that picture as a base. So here is the resulting wallpaper, not to fancy i might add.

Nature_Wallpaper_1024

Nature Wallpaper (widescreen)

I am also planning to convert some other pictures into wallpapers soon. Watch this space.

Sumit

Couple of months back i was in training and while in one of the lectures I pencilled some tattoos (of course not at the expense of the lecture). So here is plan of action.

• Convert the most liked pencil art into vector format.
• Improve/ modify the vector creations
• Think, Think and Rethink
• Decide which design to get inked
• Think, Think, Think and Think a little more
• Get it Done !

So here is the start of the process. I have finally taken pictures and captured the pencil art. Here they are. BTW this is my first time so you are free to laugh at the designs.

Now all i have to do is get the designs I like into vector format and then IM GETTING A TATTOO !

BTW did i add this before its still a big maybe.

Apple Inc.

Adobe Systems

IBM

To view all the logos please visit Neatorama’s Blog entry

I love music, it is omni present around me. The first thing I do when I enter my car is to get the music system started. When I work to create a design, I have my headphones on at high volume. Music has also been a source of inspiration for lot of my work.

I listen to all Genres of music. It all depends on my mood. My CD collection ranges from Paul van Dyk to Linkin park an di have lended my ear to almost every Genre. Recently I had the opportunity to meet the brains behind the DNB mega site DogsOnAcid. I had heard a little bit of DNB but have never been able to get latest stuff on it. Through DOA I was able to listen to the latest mixes produced y different DJ’s. So if you want to listen to the latest DNB tunes head on to DOA to get a dose.

These days i am of course listening to a lot of Pendulum. Thank you Sacha !!

I would like to wish everybody a very Happy New Year and i hope it ushers in a world of love, peace & prosperity.

2008 has arrived with new dreams and aspirations for everybody and January is the time of the year when a lot of people make resolutions. I have actually never had a list of my own but i think this year I would like to try. I do have some things which I have been procrastinating about since a long time.

So here are my resolutions for the year 2008.

Create Personal Portfolio
I have been delaying this for (believe it or not) for almost 5 years now. Its not that I have not worked on it, its just that by the completion stage i get bored of the layout i had created. I have almost 6 website designs in different stages of production. So this year I plan to just get it done.

To Blog regularly
Its the same case as my website. I started it almost a year back but my last post was posted like months back. So its time to make it ALIVE !

Take Photography as a serious hooby
I love photography, I really do. People say I have a knack of capturing the pictures at the right time and at the right angle, but that’s has stopped at that. I now plan to follow it as a serious hobby and give more time to it.

Be more organised
I am better than before but i feel there is more room for improvement. I still procrastinate sometimes and i think its time for me to get rid of this habit.

Be more Fit
I AM NOT FIT !!! there I have said it. I think i have always avoiding this issue by saying I can do it anytime i want. I have always been wrong and now is the time to correct it.

Spend more time with family
Though this is the last point in my list but this is also the point which will have the highest priority. To cut it short i want to spend more time with my two boys. Watch them learn new things, learn to talk and of course teach them some things myself. I have been focusing too much on my work and i think now is the right time to balance the equation.

This is a common scenario for anyone who lives in New Delhi/NCR region and drives to work. I am one of those unlucky people who do not have the comfort of an office cab picking and dropping me but now with time have now tuned myself to be stress free during my daily drive. Below are 10 tips which I want share with you to help reduce stress while driving.

Music
#1 tip on my list. Invest in a decent MP3 player and a good set of speakers. Burn your favorite MP3’s onto couple of CD’s and you are set for the road. Sing along with your favorite songs or rock your head to the latest trance track and it will surely help you to take your mind off the traffic.
Recommendation: If you are a Trance/Techno fan visit the official audio blog of Eric Jordan. He updates hi blog with a new track every month.

Keep a fit vehicle
Take some time out to check the fitness of your vehicle. You cannot drive in peace if you hear strange sounds emitting from your car. Buy membership of an On-road recovery service, so at least you know that help is always available and you will not be stranded in the middle of road.

Accept the facts
If you cant beat them join them. If you know that you will face heavy traffic, then accept it. Don’t fret about it as it will only elevate your stress levels.

Nibble your anxiety away
Always keep some snack to nibble your blues away. Keep a pack of biscuits or a bag of chips and nibble on them when you are stuck in a snarl. Stress levels seem to increase exponentially when you are hungry and stuck in traffic.

Travel with somebody
Try to join/organise a car pool. Give a lift to your co-worker and you will not feel the pain of being stuck in jam as you will be busy discussing a project or just sharing gossip.

Divert your thought process
Think of something else other than wishing for the car in front of you to at least move an inch forward. Go over your tasks (official or personal) for the day, set up reminders or maybe dream up a new design layout. You will surely feel your stress levels drop once you stop thinking of the traffic and something else
Note: The idea for this blog post was born while I was stuck in a traffic jam.

Avoid traffic
Leave a little early to beat the traffic or better still opt for flexi timings which help you beat the rush hours both ways. (Flexi timings work best ;))

Stretch out
Standing still and nowhere to go? Why not just step out of the car and stretch your legs. Better still walk around your car pretending to check your tires. Change of posture will help you to relax your legs.

Look beyond the traffic
Think of things you will do once you reach home. These days the thought of playing with my boys when I reach home brings a smile to my face and motivate to keep my sanity while driving.

Have patience
Last but not the least have patience. Honking your horn won’t make the vehicles in front of you to move. They will only move when they can. Take a deep breath in and exhale all your anger out

Hope these tips will help somebody out there as they have helped me during my daily drive. Feel free to leave your own tips and suggestions in the comments.