Sketchplanations - A weekly explanation in a sketch

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Explaining the world one sketch at a time

The 3-day effect

The 3-day effect is the name give to what happens to us after being out in Nature for 3 days or more. Something about it resets us and improves our mood, our wellbeing, and how well our brain is working. Observed by river rafting guide Ken Sanders who used to see a marked change in the groups he led on the 3rd day of being out on the river, it’s known as the 3-day effect. Since then, David Strayer and his group at the University of Utah have conducted studies that measured a real change in our calmness and even our creative problem-solving after 3 or more days in Nature. As Ken Sanders said: “I think it takes the first two days and nights to wash away whatever veneer of civilization you have brought with you. The new reality begins on that third day.” More about the 3 day effect at National Geograhic: This is your brain on Nature and REI: The Nature Fix. No doubt similar things at work to the magic of forest bathing.…The 3-day effect is the name give to what happens to us after being out in Nature for 3 days or more. Something about it resets us and improves our mood, our wellbeing, and how well our brain is working. Observed by river rafting guide Ken Sanders who used to see a marked change in the groups he led on the 3rd day of being out on the river, it’s known as the 3-day effect. Since then, David Strayer and his group at the University of Utah have conducted studies that measured a real change in our calmness and even our creative problem-solving after 3 or more days in Nature. As Ken Sanders said: “I think it takes the first two days and nights to wash away whatever veneer of civilization you have brought with you. The new reality begins on that third day.” More about the 3 day effect at National Geograhic: This is your brain on Nature and REI: The Nature Fix. No doubt similar things at work to the magic of forest bathing.

11 May 2019

The 9 times table on your fingers

You may remember this little trick from school. If you’ve not seen it before, give it a quick try 🙂…

5 May 2019

The story spine

Kenn Adams’s story spine is a wonderfully simple and flexible backbone for creating or analysing stories. I learned it from Dan Klein at Stanford as a fun improvising game: standing in a circle each person in turn takes on the next step of the story spine making up what happens. You’ll effortlessly produce some fascinating and amusing stories. We would extend the middle section as many times as felt natural to lead to the climax. An optional extension to the original spine was to add a final step of stating the moral of the story. I have found the story spine very useful for coming up with on the spot bedtime stories. Also a fun game at the pub. Why not give it a try now? Like improv? You might like: the first rule of improv: accept offers the second rule of improv: be spontaneous the improv attitude Watch Dan Klein in action at TEDxReset 2014…Kenn Adams’s story spine is a wonderfully simple and flexible backbone for creating or analysing stories. I learned it from Dan Klein at Stanford as a fun improvising game: standing in a circle each person in turn takes on the next step of the story spine making up what happens. You’ll effortlessly produce some fascinating and amusing stories. We would extend the middle section as many times as felt natural to lead to the climax. An optional extension to the original spine was to add a final step of stating the moral of the story. I have found the story spine very useful for coming up with on the spot bedtime stories. Also a fun game at the pub. Why not give it a try now? Like improv? You might like: the first rule of improv: accept offers the second rule of improv: be spontaneous the improv attitude Watch Dan Klein in action at TEDxReset 2014

27 Apr 2019

The Egg Float Test

Together, and with the help of a small bowl of water, let’s save millions of perfectly good eggs from being thrown away using the egg float test. Egg shells are very slightly porous. Over time, air seeps into the shell making it lighter than it was, and, when it is old and no longer good to eat, it floats. Hence, the egg float test. Here's how to test your eggs. Carefully, place an egg into water taking care not to crack it, and watch. If the egg: …sinks to the bottom and sits on its side, then it’s fresh and good to eat. …sinks to the bottom but perches on its end, then it’s good to eat, but should be eaten soon — it’s been around long enough to get enough air in it to start lifting it off the bottom. …floats to the surface, then it’s old and likely no longer good to eat. Word is that it’s not a good idea to wash eggs well before you plan to use them as it removes a natural membrane coating on them called bloom that protects the eggs from bacteria. So best to only wash them when you’re ready to eat them. Now, does anyone know of an equivalent test for avocadoes?…Together, and with the help of a small bowl of water, let’s save millions of perfectly good eggs from being thrown away using the egg float test. Egg shells are very slightly porous. Over time, air seeps into the shell making it lighter than it was, and, when it is old and no longer good to eat, it floats. Hence, the egg float test. Here's how to test your eggs. Carefully, place an egg into water taking care not to crack it, and watch. If the egg: …sinks to the bottom and sits on its side, then it’s fresh and good to eat. …sinks to the bottom but perches on its end, then it’s good to eat, but should be eaten soon — it’s been around long enough to get enough air in it to start lifting it off the bottom. …floats to the surface, then it’s old and likely no longer good to eat. Word is that it’s not a good idea to wash eggs well before you plan to use them as it removes a natural membrane coating on them called bloom that protects the eggs from bacteria. So best to only wash them when you’re ready to eat them. Now, does anyone know of an equivalent test for avocadoes?

20 Apr 2019

Fruit vs vegetable

What's the difference between a fruit and a vegetable? There's that classic thing: tomatoes are really a fruit — well, a whole lot of other vegetables are technically fruit too. I do find this way of thinking of it helpful: Fruit — ovaries developed from the flowering parts containing seeds. They’re basically what grows where the flower was. Vegetable — other edible parts of a plant. So basically, anything else, with a handy list being: leaves, roots, stems and flowers. So this makes tons of other common vegetables actually fruit, including peas, avocadoes, cucumbers, eggplants, bell peppers and more. And corn and raspberries are still rather complicated. Also see: hedgehog a mango de-seed pomegranates the hungry gap freeze lemons and limes scoville scale what’s the difference between mandarins, clementines, satsumas and tangerines? open bananas like a monkey roll limes before squeezing cut an onion into teeny pieces advice to eat well…What's the difference between a fruit and a vegetable? There's that classic thing: tomatoes are really a fruit — well, a whole lot of other vegetables are technically fruit too. I do find this way of thinking of it helpful: Fruit — ovaries developed from the flowering parts containing seeds. They’re basically what grows where the flower was. Vegetable — other edible parts of a plant. So basically, anything else, with a handy list being: leaves, roots, stems and flowers. So this makes tons of other common vegetables actually fruit, including peas, avocadoes, cucumbers, eggplants, bell peppers and more. And corn and raspberries are still rather complicated. Also see: hedgehog a mango de-seed pomegranates the hungry gap freeze lemons and limes scoville scale what’s the difference between mandarins, clementines, satsumas and tangerines? open bananas like a monkey roll limes before squeezing cut an onion into teeny pieces advice to eat well

13 Apr 2019

The business flywheel

Perhaps, like me, you’re used to thinking about bringing customers onboard as a funnel. It’s a very natural metaphor for thinking about customer acquisition. For example, you market to 10,000 people, 500 people visit your website, 50 of them put something in the basket and 10 of them buy. If you draw it out it looks like a funnel. And the next time you market you start fresh with a new 10,000. But the real world isn’t like that. Delivering a good service to your customers helps the next customers come in. Hence the flywheel model. A flywheel is typically a big heavy wheel that stores and releases energy from an engine or vehicle. The flywheel metaphor is about happy customers driving your growth. And when you think about your business this way it can cause you to make different decisions. Having more customers is like a bigger, heavier flywheel containing more energy. Happy customers speed you up, unhappy customers slow you down. Making it easier for customers to try your product reduces friction, as does making it easier for for customers to talk about and share your product. Get your flywheel big, heavy and spinning like crazy and your business is doing well. The flywheel model is from Brian Halligan at Hubspot. I’ve thought about customer funnels for literally years and I wish I’d known about the flywheel long ago. Check out Hubspot’s flywheel intro for more.…Perhaps, like me, you’re used to thinking about bringing customers onboard as a funnel. It’s a very natural metaphor for thinking about customer acquisition. For example, you market to 10,000 people, 500 people visit your website, 50 of them put something in the basket and 10 of them buy. If you draw it out it looks like a funnel. And the next time you market you start fresh with a new 10,000. But the real world isn’t like that. Delivering a good service to your customers helps the next customers come in. Hence the flywheel model. A flywheel is typically a big heavy wheel that stores and releases energy from an engine or vehicle. The flywheel metaphor is about happy customers driving your growth. And when you think about your business this way it can cause you to make different decisions. Having more customers is like a bigger, heavier flywheel containing more energy. Happy customers speed you up, unhappy customers slow you down. Making it easier for customers to try your product reduces friction, as does making it easier for for customers to talk about and share your product. Get your flywheel big, heavy and spinning like crazy and your business is doing well. The flywheel model is from Brian Halligan at Hubspot. I’ve thought about customer funnels for literally years and I wish I’d known about the flywheel long ago. Check out Hubspot’s flywheel intro for more.

7 Apr 2019

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