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rulebreaker

- 1 year ago

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What Do You Love to Do the Hard Way?

I recently read an article on Scientific American that mentioned how performing tasks the hard way can improve intelligence. It turns out that the brain is a muscle that you can train!

Doing things the hard way includes tasks as simple as driving without a GPS (no Google map apps, either!), sewing your own items, cooking from scratch, adding without a calculator, and doing your own taxes -- basically using your brain to do anything that a machine could do for you.

I.Q. numbers aside, when I perform a task the hard way, I feel more in control of my life and as though I better enjoy the experience of living!

SoulPancake wants to know: What is one thing that you do the hard way?

source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/matterphotography/179427156/

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I love cooking from scratch. Mixing flavors in the kitchen, trying to find the right combo feels makes cooking an entertaining experiment. Sometimes it doesn't work out, and that's ok, just gotta try something new next time !

Getting from point A to point B. Physically. I like the scenic rout.

I like to do certain things the hard way because it gives me a greater feeling of accomplishment. I write with pen and paper to start with and only go to the computer for editing after. I add and do basic multiplaction without a calculator and I like to take walks whenever possible. I definitely agree that making your brain work is how you help it grow and become stronger. It is like exercising. If you don't keep your brain in shape then it becomes weak over time and develops a tendency to let you down when you need it most.

Learning. If you learn the "easy way" it's not going to be something you'll remember as easily. But I remember things in my life when I was little that I had to learn the "hard way" and it's something that I still remember in my life today

Like many other people pointed out, if walking or biking is an alternative to get anywhere I almost always choose that instead. Making my own workout routines and finding my own ways to exercise and workout where ever I am instead of relying on a gym. Also as LotusMusic said cooking and baking from scratch is great.

It's crazy to think how all of this is all normal stuff and ways we are supposed to do things but now it is considered the hard way. Not saying it's a good or bad thing, it's just interesting to think about it...

Everything. I think its the only way I really learn & understand anything.

Gaming. I choose the hard mode where applicable...Most other areas I tend to try to figure out how to do stuff with as little effort as possible.

I pretty much do every thing the "hard way", it's just my nature.

I like to cook from scratch because my health is important to me and I like to know what I've put into my food. Plus I think it tastes better than ready meals. It also really bugs me when people buy pre-grated cheese or pre-sliced veg, I even saw mashed potato on sale the other day! I can't believe some people are seriously that lazy. Cooking is something to get involved in. Not relying on some machine in a factory to grate your cheese.

I think walking is a good thing too. When I'm walking it the time in my day when I do the most thinking. I love breathing in the fresh air and watching other people doing their thing.

Cleaning too. Some people really don't like it or don't have the time and hire cleaners but I like to know the job has been done properly and I definitely get a sense of satisfaction when it's done.

I walk!

cooking from scratch is my thing. I find it very relaxing to spend some extra time cooking, trying out new variations, taking risks. I have to admit there aint too much "big thinking", as its a more trial and fail thing, but "visualizing" new taste combos and methods of prepping food does tickles my brain in that good way.

maybe not on topic, but all things that has to do with taste, music, food, drinks, I enjoy spending a bit more time with, figuring out whats the best, not just take whatever's given to me.

I'm going to soon be moving out with no money or no place to go. Oh, I have places to go, but they're soft, comfortable little havens for brain softening. Bout to grab life by the McCandless!!! YEAH!

I love working through really difficult derivatives and integrals just for fun. Also reproving fundamental theorems of calculus, chemistry and physics. They are all so interconnected, it's marvelous!

I've learned from so many great examples that cooking from scratch tastes better, doing your taxes is like a financial fist-pump of success, and that all in all the more labor-intensive your point A to B venture is, the more you see, smell, and experience along the way. Can I get a "whoop whoop!" for hands on learning?

Writing or taking notes in class. Though I'm always on my laptop, writing or note taking is just one thing I can't bring myself to do virtually. Sure, it may be quicker and easier to just open up a new Word document to write stories, poetry, or notes, but there's just something about that feel of pencil against paper. It's therapeutic and just feels more real.

My lady.

I like to oil paint "the hard way." I learned realism first, then color theory, and so on. Now I do big abstract paintings, but I've built the neural pathways that I otherwise wouldn't have had I not undergone total immersion into classical painting techniques. My paintings are not slapped together, they take me months. That's the way I like it, so hey.

It's funny because I see guys who more or less tossed some piece of abstraction together in an hour or two selling for big money. Ah, well.

education fortunately

I tend not to think of it as the "hard" way, but as the original way. or BM before machines, vs. AM after machines. And some of it isn't brain work. Like tilling the soil with a shovel instead of a roto-tiller. Washing dishes by hand instead of in a dishwasher, etc.

There's some setting on my MacBook that allows me to grade/edit papers.....I don't know how to work it & I don't want to know. I like the "discussion" feel to making comments on student papers with pencil or pen. Seems more human somehow.

I like to occasionally cook a dinner that I've never tried before. I'll find a random recipe online, get the ingredients cheap, then give it a shot on a day off. The last few times I tried this the meals were almost passable, but I'm getting closer to being my own Top Chef!

I work smarter not harder. Especially when the easy way is more efficient and the quality of work is just the same as the hard way. The only thing I think I do that would be "harder" is when I cook. I prefer to make things myself as opposed to purchasing "just add water" or other pre-made food.

I make my own tea with fresh herbs and flowers. It might doing something the "hard way", but it's one of the things I really look forward to doing in the morning before I head off to work.

I also dye my own hair, and when one uses henna, that truly is THE "hard way" of "hard ways". :P

I hate doing things the hard way. A simple man is always content with who he is. Plus I don't want to be smart as people will expect more from me.

I am here for a good time not to impress people on how I can turn something simple into rocket science. That is what politicians are for.

Sometimes I make coffee the hard way. 3 cups of water & coffee grounds then you boil it over the stove. It taste a lot less s*****r than how my plug-in coffee maker makes it lol.

Several of those things, actually. I love to cook without a recipe, add without a calculator, and I never use a GPS. Like you, I enjoy the mental exercise that comes with the task. It also provides some exercise for my creativity and improvisation, two things that have always served me well in life.

What Do You Love to Do the Hard Way?

SoulPancake wants to know: What is one thing that you do the hard way?

I love cooking from scratch. Mixing flavors in the kitchen, trying to find the right combo feels makes cooking an entertaining experiment. Sometimes it doesn't work out, and that's ok, just gotta try something new next time !

Getting from point A to point B. Physically. I like the scenic rout.

Learning. If you learn the "easy way" it's not going to be something you'll remember as easily. But I remember things in my life when I was little that I had to learn the "hard way" and it's something that I still remember in my life today

Everything. I think its the only way I really learn & understand anything.

Gaming. I choose the hard mode where applicable...Most other areas I tend to try to figure out how to do stuff with as little effort as possible.

I pretty much do every thing the "hard way", it's just my nature.

I walk!

I'm going to soon be moving out with no money or no place to go. Oh, I have places to go, but they're soft, comfortable little havens for brain softening. Bout to grab life by the McCandless!!! YEAH!

I love working through really difficult derivatives and integrals just for fun. Also reproving fundamental theorems of calculus, chemistry and physics. They are all so interconnected, it's marvelous!

My lady.

education fortunately

I tend not to think of it as the "hard" way, but as the original way. or BM before machines, vs. AM after machines. And some of it isn't brain work. Like tilling the soil with a shovel instead of a roto-tiller. Washing dishes by hand instead of in a dishwasher, etc.

There's some setting on my MacBook that allows me to grade/edit papers.....I don't know how to work it & I don't want to know. I like the "discussion" feel to making comments on student papers with pencil or pen. Seems more human somehow.

I like to occasionally cook a dinner that I've never tried before. I'll find a random recipe online, get the ingredients cheap, then give it a shot on a day off. The last few times I tried this the meals were almost passable, but I'm getting closer to being my own Top Chef!

I work smarter not harder. Especially when the easy way is more efficient and the quality of work is just the same as the hard way. The only thing I think I do that would be "harder" is when I cook. I prefer to make things myself as opposed to purchasing "just add water" or other pre-made food.

I make my own tea with fresh herbs and flowers. It might doing something the "hard way", but it's one of the things I really look forward to doing in the morning before I head off to work.I also dye my own hair, and when one uses henna, that truly is THE "hard way" of "hard ways". :P

I hate doing things the hard way. A simple man is always content with who he is. Plus I don't want to be smart as people will expect more from me. I am here for a good time not to impress people on how I can turn something simple into rocket science. That is what politicians are for.

Sometimes I make coffee the hard way. 3 cups of water & coffee grounds then you boil it over the stove. It taste a lot less s*****r than how my plug-in coffee maker makes it lol.

If this were true, I'd be a frickin' genius. Maybe I'm the exception that proves the rule.

SoulPancake

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I make my own tea with fresh herbs and flowers. It might doing something the "hard way", but it's one of the things I really look forward to doing in the morning before I head off to work.

I also dye my own hair, and when one uses henna, that truly is THE "hard way" of "hard ways". :P

I hate doing things the hard way. A simple man is always content with who he is. Plus I don't want to be smart as people will expect more from me.

I am here for a good time not to impress people on how I can turn something simple into rocket science. That is what politicians are for.