Project Lore

Master these bad habits, and you too can be a Lord of Time like Nozdormu! Despite how stressful it can get sometimes, I'm a multi-tasker at heart. When I'm doing one thing, I generally have to be doing two or three others. Got to keep that brain entertained! Though WoW is far from being the worst offender where downtime is concerned (go play Final Fantasy XI!), there are nonetheless those times when waiting on things to happen is just too much to bear, and your mind begins to wander... As I've already established, I'm especially bad about this. When my guild wipes on a boss, it generally takes anywhere from five to ten minutes to rebuff and get set up for the next attempt, and that's more than enough time for me to begin losing interest. I mean, as a rogue, there's not a whole lot I have to prepare before a fight. Often, I'll just tab out and start reading something on the internet while I wait, and it takes a fellow officer barking at me over Ventrilo about missing the Ready Check to get back into the game. I'm sorry, it's a habit! I have the attention span of an excited puppy on speed! It gets so bad at times, that I'll be multi-tasking right in the middle of an intense fight. Regardless of whether I'm just killing some time, or yawning in the middle of a stationary boss battle (hello, Patchwerk!), here are a few of my favorite ADD-friendly activities:

1. Watch TV - Television is traditonally a passive medium, and as long as you've got the muscle memory down for a particular encounter, turning your eyes towards the boob tube for a little while probably won't impact your game much. I'm guilty of watching such thought-intensive shows as LOST while raiding, which isn't the best of ideas (hey, not my fault my favorite shows come on during raid nights!), but trash television is absolutely perfect. Turn on a reality show or set your receiver to just about any Discovery Channel network and you're good to go! It'll give you something vaguely interesting to look at when you're bored without having to spare too many synapses. Optionally, movies you've seen before work, too (I'm watching The Last Action Hero while typing this article, in fact)!
2. Personal Grooming - We all play Warcraft, sometimes a lot more than we should. And, on some days, this means we may skip the shower or sit around in our dirty boxers all day. Contrary to popular belief, taking care of yourself doesn't need to be hassle, so when you're waiting for a fellow raider to come back from their smoke break or kid aggro, why not pick up a pair of nail clippers and trim those claws of yours? Try brushing your hair or your teeth. I don't think I'd recommend anything too crazy, like shaving or waxing your chest (imagine the yelps of pain over voice chat), but there are plenty of little things you can do to make yourself a tad more acceptable when you crawl out of your cave to grab some midnight burritos.
3. Eat! - Feed your face! I can't count the number of times I've come home from work, hungry as a bear in Spring, right around the time a raid starts. Grab whatever deliciously greasy snack you can and pound it down your gullet during or between attempts. Make a little game of it to see how many french fries you can consume while healing through Hard Mode Iron Council!
4. Play With Your Dog - Or cat. Or guinea pig. Or whatever. If you've got a pet, force it to entertain you! Got your face smashed in on a fight and staring at the release button? Pick up a damn tennis ball and throw it down the hallway for Fido. Guaranteed to be more fun than waiting for a battle rez! Cats will probably still ignore you, though.
5. Play Another Game - Go on. What's stopping you from loading up old classics like Minesweeper and Solitaire. I prefer console games, myself, and usually have one running in the background when there's nothing on TV. Honestly, it's even easier to ignore the raid now that semi-official Peggle and Bejeweled add-ons are available (and you can even set them to pop up when you die, too!).

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