Why I Take Sketch Breaks Instead Of Internet Surfing

Staring at a pair of monitors for 10+ hours a day can get rather taxing. That’s why I pepper in small breaks throughout the day, like most people. When I need five minutes to untangle my brain I reach for my pile of art pens and the closest post-it note (the back of a printout will also suffice) and do some sketching

Compared to the things I used to do on breaks, like surfing the web or secretly playing a iOS game, sketching has a defined end point. Once you put the pen down, nothing jumps up on my monitor or flashes on my desk to tempt me to resume. By doing something nontechnical, it’s very unlikely the break will stretch on for too long because once I’m done doodling, I’m not thinking about it at all. The inverse is also true; once I’m doodling my mind couldn’t be farther from my daily work, which is more therapeutic than getting caught up in any digital distraction.

You don’t have to be Picasso either. By no means am I an artist, nor do I do much doodling in my spare time. I just grab a pen and let my mind wander for a few minutes a day to clear my head. I don’t plan on framing these half-hearted gems or having a self-indulgent showing at some gallery because that’s just ludicrous. Point is, doodling only works if you don’t take it too seriously.

Above are some examples of how I don’t let my artistic ineptitude hinder my hobby.

I implore you give it a shot sometime!

Sketch Breaks [Glen Elkins]

Glen Elkin’s is a web designer & front end developer for the ecommerce and web publishing company Juggle.com and writer for the music blog PlaybackSTL.com. When he is not scribbling wireframes, tweaking CSS, or slingin’ words, he doodle’s, plays guitar and kills zombies.