If I Work Effectively This is How I Do It

This work/study formula is definitely not original. But I came up with it on my own out of necessity. When I was in college I spent hours daily on the "social" floor of our hulking, brutalist library overlooking the Potomac. I suffered from the conflicting desire to be around other laboring souls while at the same time needing to have my vision blocked by wood panels on three sides. If you spent enough time on the second floor of Lauinger library in the study carrels you would begin to recognize the individuals who required the same work atmosphere. For me this included a bizarre comfort in knowing people were around me interacting (not insisting on the silence of the tomb to complete a statistics problem) while at the same time attempting to enter my own world. While I have stopped short of installing a study carrel in either the house or the workplace, the other two elements of my environment remain. They are the following:

Espresso Coffee:  On the social floor I could nab an americano at my convenience. Now, I believe, what I am making in my espresso machine is actually a caffè lungo,  which stretches the espresso with water rather than adding hot water to it. Or I could be bullshitting you. Either way if I drink too much I have a panic attack.













Instrumental Hip Hop/ Trip Hop/ Jazz: I quickly realized that I could not delve into the writing of Geertz, Wolf, Abu- Lughod, and Appadurai while listening to the lyrics of some crooner. So I developed an instrumental only work playlist. My playlists include a lot of jazz and the work of hip hop and trip hop producers who owe so much (often almost everything) to jazz.  Here are a few selections:

Robert Glasper- Of Dreams to Come 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM8tOt_GIb0


J Dilla- Won't Do 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVYza0NiWuU

Pete Rock- A Little Soul 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrIhZPAAcjI


And Finally, Grado Headphones: Sorry Dre,  I'm sure your headphones are great. But I wouldn't trade these for anything.