This past week, I invented a new game at the office, and I also play it at home.  Don't laugh when you read this, it's great for increasing your concentration and manual dexterity.  It's called "How many cards can you toss into a basket."

I have many decks of cards kicking around.  Between the office, home, my jacket and the car, I estimate I have around 50 decks.  This past week, I took one of my empty garbage cans and put it about 5 feet away from me.  I then took the deck and, one by one, tossed cards into the basket.  I used to play this game many years ago, and I'd forgotten how much I liked it.  Believe it or not, it's fun.  The benefits include:

• Concentration - you have to concentrate to make sure that you do the same move over and over again once you get into a rhythm.
  
  
• Technique - a friend of mine used to use the technique where he would hold the card vertical and toss it straight forward into the basket.  Mine is more elegant, I toss it horizontally and then the card hooks to the left so in essence, it is "pulling" into the basket rather than going straight.  Getting the technique down is an art.
  
  
• Taking a time out - I've been quite busy this week, so just sitting down and doing something that requires actual skill (physical, not mental) is fun.
  
  
• Relevant to the job - I go through the 52-cards in a couple of minutes, but the motion is repetitive.  It's a lot like spamming, it's the same thing over and over.  And the idea is to get it into the basket, a lot like spam trying to get to people's inboxes.

But, no cheating is allowed.  Don't put the basket up against the wall because that makes it too easy.  You could just bounce it off the wall and into the basket.  Ideally, you need to move it several inches away from the wall at a minimum so your deposits into the basket are actually impressive.  Don't lean forward half way there unless that's your technique.  But if it is, move the basket further away.

My record seems to be 19, or a little over 1/3 of the deck.  I can't remember what my previous records are, but hopefully I can get 100% compliance one day.