Web Development: “White Space” is the area around text and images on a website.  It acts as a sort of frame to highlight what is important; without it, websites are crowded and full and you don’t know where to look.  (Check out Ling’s Cars and try to focus on something.)

Real life: Ever since taking Learning How to Learn, and reading Barbara’s book A Mind for Numbers, I’ve been focused on giving my brain “downtime” between learning and cramming.  Whereas before, I’d always have a podcast going when I was exercising, or I’d want to have an audiobook playing if I was walking somewhere, or I’d want to have the radio on when I was cooking, now I just have…silence.  Or, rather, the sound of my feet hitting the pavement, the wind through the leaves, and the sizzle of oil and food is what I hear, and instead of trying to learn something new every minute, I end up letting my mind wander, Richard Feynman style, and it is incredible.  It’s perhaps not complete silence, but it’s close to peace, and it helps me focus when I need to.

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