# Stuff you do better without looking. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 18, 2015, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-do-better-without-looking/734993 "2015-10-18T13:28:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-do-better-without-looking/734993/21 "2015-10-19T02:33:00Z")
I make my arrows carefully tapered flight arrows mostly by feel. I do use my eyes to verify what my fingers are telling me on a regular basis. But while I am removing wood it is by feel. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-do-better-without-looking/734993/22 "2015-10-19T05:03:42Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Driving. šŸ˜› You have a Tesla? šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-do-better-without-looking/734993/23 "2015-10-19T10:40:38Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > This (although they donā€™t want my blood since I am a sexually active gay man). I donā€™t have any problems getting shots of any kind but I canā€™t stand to look at the needle going in. I also canā€™t stand watching other people get stuck, as on TV. Ditto; though they donā€™t want my blood, either, since I was in the UK for more than 3 total months in the 1980s/1990s. I donā€™t mind seeing other peopleā€™s IVs or blood draws, just mine. One of the phlebotomists Iā€™ve run into said thatā€™s not uncommon, and she also hates it. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-do-better-without-looking/734993/24 "2015-10-19T11:01:06Z")
Typing but only as long as I donā€™t even think about it. As soon as I think about it Iā€™m screwed. > [@enipla](#): > > Tying my shoes. My hands know how to do it. My brain, not so much. My older son has this incredibly inefficient way of tying his shoes and I (if I say so myself) have this very neat and quick way of doing it. The only problem is I have no idea how I do it so I canā€™t explain it to him. I canā€™t even do it slowly so I can figure out how I do it. If I do that, I start thinking about it and then I canā€™t do it. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-do-better-without-looking/734993/25 "2015-10-19T12:52:14Z")
Playing any musical instrument. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-do-better-without-looking/734993/26 "2015-10-19T14:35:25Z")
> [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > Playing piano. Mostly this, yes. And as several others mentioned, I think most musical instruments are like this. Thereā€™s still certainly some complex stuff that I need to look, but particularly stuff that I know by heart, not only is it easier and better, but I find the less I even think about it, the more impassioned the piece is. Focusing on the technical aspects takes away from my ability to emotionally improvise. Funny enough, even singing is that way, where if Iā€™m looking at the lyrics, unless I havenā€™t memorized them, I find it affects my ability to really ā€œfeelā€ it. Even if I forget a word here or there, just fudging it and running with the flow often works better than stumbling and getting it right. I saw typing mentioned, but a lot of that isnā€™t so much with the typing, but with making sure that I can see whatā€™s showing up on the screen and correct the errors. So, I guess that counts. There are a few keys I still have to look figure out though, mostly the special characters. I donā€™t have any trouble finding @ or !, but I often struggle with $, &, and {} which I need a lot in code and scripts. Similar to typing, is keybinds in playing games. Obviously, if itā€™s a controller type of game, you should know where all the buttons are pretty quickly, but Iā€™m talking more about keyboard and mouse games, particularly MMO, FPS, RTS type of games. Iā€™ve seen people with all kinds of complex keybinds all of the place. I actually hide that stuff from my UI because I just find it information overload. And the funny thing is, if people ask me what the bind is for some abilities, I canā€™t say, but I definitely have the muscle memory for it. Also the Rubikā€™s Cube. That is, of course I have to look at it to see the state, but once I start applying an algorithm to go from one state to the next, I find that seeing the intermediate patterns to be confusing and make me feel like Iā€™ve messed up. I just have to go through the muscle memory of the particular algorithm and hope I didnā€™t make a mistake; I almost always make a mistake if I watch. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-do-better-without-looking/734993/27 "2015-10-19T15:05:27Z")
Packing cantaloupe. No, thatā€™s not a euphemism. Between H.S. and college I followed the packing season from south to west Texas for the cantaloupe crop (my dad knew the owner ((Othal Brand)) and it was a good paying job before college). Theyā€™re sorted into about 10 different sizes, from 4 to 18 and are placed differently in the box based on the station size. The workers change stations each hour so everyone gets an equal chance at slow and fast packing stations since theyā€™re paid by the box. Iā€™d use cloth gloves with bicycle innertube sections sewed onto the fingertips for grip. The method was to pick up the melon off the culling station with your right hand and toss it to your left over the box so it would orient stem up and place it inside based on that sizeā€™s packing geometry. You became so good at it that you were flicking as many as possible and just looking at the next one you were going to grab with your right and not your left hand as it caught it stem up and packed it correctly. You literally might have a couple of melons in the air at one time with the larger counts. Sometimes Iā€™ll still do this at the grocery store as I transfer the items out of my basket by flicking them to the belt where I catch them w/o looking and set them down. Kinda freaks the cashier out, but always in a good way. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-do-better-without-looking/734993/28 "2015-10-19T16:10:07Z")
I have extremely bad eye-hand coordination, and a serious messed up hand. Iā€™m great at touch typing and touch ā€œkeyboarding,ā€ cause I have no desire to look at what Iā€™m doing. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-do-better-without-looking/734993/29 "2015-10-19T16:26:28Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Tying my shoes. My hands know how to do it. My brain, not so much. You should see the filthy things _my_ hands get up to when my brainā€™s not watchinā€™ 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-do-better-without-looking/734993/30 "2015-10-19T18:20:54Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > I went to some museum once with a hands on exhibit that involved reaching your hands in to tie a knot with some rope, but when you looked down into the glass at your hands and the rope, they had optically mirrored the view so everything was opposite what your brain expected. > > The visual distortion was supposed to make it very difficult to tie a simple knot, but it felt as natural as a normal knot as long as you ignored the visual entirely and did it by feel. So the exhibit didnā€™t really achieve its stated purposed but it neatly demonstrated how easy it is to tie knots by feel. I canā€™t tie a necktie while looking in a mirror. ---
**Author:** ![orderfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orderfire/32/10908_2.png) [@orderfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orderfire)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-do-better-without-looking/734993/31 "2015-10-19T19:20:21Z")
Another one for typing, with special mention for the numeric keyboard. I learned that one-handed ringing rhythm while working retail something like 30 years ago back in the day when we actually manually entered the numbers in the register, and itā€™s never left me. At work we have six digit employee numbers which I enter without even thinking. The problem comes in when someone asks me to tell them my E#ā€¦ā€œUhhhā€¦ (closes eyes, visualizes numeric keypad pattern, pretend tapping)ā€¦uhhh, I think itā€™s 968754.ā€ Yes on braiding tooā€¦a long ago memory of the long hair days. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-do-better-without-looking/734993/32 "2015-10-19T19:24:50Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Packing cantaloupe. No, thatā€™s not a euphemism. Between H.S. and college I followed the packing season from south to west Texas for the cantaloupe crop (my dad knew the owner ((Othal Brand)) and it was a good paying job before college). Theyā€™re sorted into about 10 different sizes, from 4 to 18 and are placed differently in the box based on the station size. The workers change stations each hour so everyone gets an equal chance at slow and fast packing stations since theyā€™re paid by the box. Iā€™d use cloth gloves with bicycle innertube sections sewed onto the fingertips for grip. > > The method was to pick up the melon off the culling station with your right hand and toss it to your left over the box so it would orient stem up and place it inside based on that sizeā€™s packing geometry. You became so good at it that you were flicking as many as possible and just looking at the next one you were going to grab with your right and not your left hand as it caught it stem up and packed it correctly. You literally might have a couple of melons in the air at one time with the larger counts. > > Sometimes Iā€™ll still do this at the grocery store as I transfer the items out of my basket by flicking them to the belt where I catch them w/o looking and set them down. Kinda freaks the cashier out, but always in a good way. You ever see the movie Mr. Majestyk with Charles Bronson? I actually havenā€™t, but I read the Elmore Leonard book itā€™s based on. They actually discuss that type of skill as Mr. M fights vigilante style for the cause of some migrant workers, IIRC. He doesnā€™t use it to beat the bad guys - now that would be cool - but it is discussed to respect the skill of these workers. You melon-loading badass! ---
**Author:** ![Last\_Glacial\_Maximum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc79bd/32.png) [@Last\_Glacial\_Maximum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Last_Glacial_Maximum)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-do-better-without-looking/734993/33 "2015-10-19T19:31:28Z")
When Iā€™m fishing it is often times by ā€œfeelā€. If Iā€™m not casting to a specific piece of structure or better yet jigging, Iā€™m much better off not looking at my fishing pole or line. I do buy decent fishing equipment though, so my rods/line do telegraph any bites very effectively. . Obviously, all of the above applies doubly so at nightā€¦ . ---
**Author:** ![Lo-Slung\_Denim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f6c823/32.png) [@Lo-Slung\_Denim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lo-Slung_Denim)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-do-better-without-looking/734993/34 "2015-10-19T21:13:08Z")
Putting in contact lenses. I never do this in front of the mirror. Easier to do it without any other input. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-do-better-without-looking/734993/35 "2015-10-19T22:27:15Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > FYI, Rule 34 applies. Or at least so other Dopers have told me. Just sayinā€™ in case you wanted to actually, you know, see such things. I think in this post 2G1C world most people are all too sadly aware of such things, but thatā€™s not the point, it wouldnā€™t be ME pooping, as Iā€™m pooping. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-do-better-without-looking/734993/36 "2015-10-19T22:37:36Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Tying my shoes. My hands know how to do it. My brain, not so much. Ditto for tying a necktie (in my preferred knotā€¦ have to look if I have to tie some other knot for some reason). ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-do-better-without-looking/734993/37 "2015-10-19T22:41:06Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > Ditto; though they donā€™t want my blood, either, since I was in the UK for more than 3 total months in the 1980s/1990s. > > I donā€™t mind seeing other peopleā€™s IVs or blood draws, just mine. One of the phlebotomists Iā€™ve run into said thatā€™s not uncommon, and she also hates it. I know more than one military medic who is completely fine with blood and guts ā€“ unless itā€™s their own, at which point everything goes to hell. On-topic, tā€™s best not to do venipuncture completely blind, finding a good vein to stick is, surprisingly, often best done by touch rather than feel. A vein that looks nice and easy and plump may well not be. The trick is to make it look as if youā€™re looking so as not to freak out the patient, while operating largely by touch. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-do-better-without-looking/734993/38 "2015-10-19T23:05:21Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Walking. Once I look at my feet, the process becomes deliberate, and that makes it difficult. I wear contact lenses as a rule and on those rare occasions when I wear my glasses around the house, I cannot look down when descending the stairs! I need my ankles to remain untwisted. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-do-better-without-looking/734993/39 "2015-10-19T23:24:32Z")
> [@Lo-Slung\_Denim](#): > > Putting in contact lenses. I never do this in front of the mirror. Easier to do it without any other input. When I first started wearing contacts I wore them swimming in heavy surf. The plan was just to close my eyes when underwater. Of course I forgot and one contact lens came out. By some complete miracle I realised it had not washed away completely and was stuck to my eyelashes. I was on a lonely beach miles from a bathroom or fresh water and I was at the stage where I could hardly get them in at all, let alone without a mirror. So I thought ā€œwhat the hellā€ and just attempted to stick the thing back in while standing amongst the breaking waves. Went in first time. Huh. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-do-better-without-looking/734993/40 "2015-10-20T02:15:07Z")
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