High in Low out….

There are certain things that you remember from movies that spark your interest. Even though they seem tiny little details – for some reason your mind just keeps hold of them.

Can anyone remember the movie Cool Runnings? There is a tiny quote which says, “Remember, slow hands. High in, low out.” It’s referring to when the driver takes the sled down the hill. If you enter the corner high, you can exit it low which I think in racing terms is faster because you shorten the length of the track and get a better time….

Anyhow, in the last few weeks, this small phrase has taken a whole new meaning for me. In short, I have started to think that too much material for the mind – reading lists, RSS, FaceBook, Twitter etc can become too much. There seems to be a complete numbness of the mind and as a result less good work is made.

It’s not that the websites and twitter etc, are taking the place of work time, but the baggage of carrying all the addition data (which is usually frivolous anyway) takes up mental space which should be left free for the mind to wander in the expanse of creativity.

So in effect, “high input creates low output.” Normally I can spot a physical/principle parallel, but the only one I can think of is over eating, which leads to being over weight.

In a related thought, working on physical projects – redecorating, working on rigging  a photoshoot etc leads to giving the mind room to breathe, which leads to more creativity – which leads to more good design work. And better designs are always the target.