racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

When I was working at NEDA, I used to drive my pawis steering* Mitsubishi Lancer to work every morning, and then to grad school class in the mid-afternoon, and then back to the office again to wrap up some work before returning home. It was a round-trip, actually since my place was near UP Diliman. When I wasn’t driving, I took the MRT—I walked the half kilometer distance between the Shaw MRT station to our Amber drive office back and forth.

When I moved to dotPH, I walked the half kilometer (or was it) distance between the Ortigas MRT station and Emerald Avenue both ways every day—lugging my eight-pound ThinkPad at that! It was also at dotPH where I learned to drink water instead of juice and coffee, and to eat packed lunch instead of the greasy, fatty fastfood or canteen fare.

When I quit the corporate grind to be a freelancer and a problogger, I usually stayed at home when I didn’t have meetings and events to attend—which are actually quite infrequent and irregular. I found myself going out only once in a while to do my banking transactions—those I couldn’t do online—and to take the wife and kids out during weekends. And then there are the cupboard raids for sugary and salty snacks, and of course the unlimited supply of coffee.

In short, turning problogger has caused me to live a sedentary lifestyle, compared to the relatively mobile and healthy daily routine I had before. I watched my waistline grow a couple of inches from its usual. I also sometimes feel sluggish because my muscles have atrophied from non-use! (Okay, exaggerating here.) The only muscles I get to exercise these days are my typing fingers and my coffee mug-lifting arm.

*Pawis Steering: A play on “power steering,” intended for cars without this feature. Pawis is a Filipino term for sweat, hence the phrase implies that the driver exerts so much effort in steering. Yes, the tropical climate, plus sometimes malfunctioning airconditioning systems and the wide 15-inch wheel rims makes one sweat at times.

Working Out

During our college days, Caren and I used to work out at a small gym near our respective homes. It was great. We felt healthy and happy. We didn’t get to achieve those ancient Greek god physiques, but we were active enough to keep our bodies and minds healhty. And just recently, we did what we’ve been wanting to for a long time now—we signed up for membership at a nearby gym! And we just started working out (again).

It’s a both an achievement and a challenge. I’ve always thought that if I ceased to follow the demands of the bundy clock, I would have more time to attend to life’s niceties. But working independent and having no time to follow might sometimes mean working all the time, actually. And this can sometimes be stifling to one’s creativity (and on one’s personal life), particularly if you set no boundaries between work and personal life.

Activity Begets Creativity

Boy, am I glad we took this first step to doing something out of the ordinary. Perhaps this way I’ll get to boost my creativity and productivity. Pumping healthy blood into my brain would sure help get me those fresh ideas!

I’ve always believed we become more creative the more we get to immerse ourselves in reality. Art imitates life. The more we experience life, the more interesting ideas and perspectives we get out of it, even from the most mundane of things.

So if you’re thinking of going into the problogging business, don’t think you can just sit around all day sifting through your RSS feeds and doing the click-copy-paste routine. Again, go out and live life!

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