How to Become a Design Genius: Take Time Off. Lots of It.

Maybe a better title would've been - How To Stay A Design Genius. I didn't see a lot of connection between his post-sabbatical projects and the year that he spent off, which is fine - the main benefit seemed to be a rejuvenation of his love for the craft.

I've thought about doing something similar for a long time now, probably because my dad was a prof and some of my best childhood memories are from spending copious amounts of time abroad.

I definitely see the value in that and it goes for any career where creativity and insight is important. Taking the time to step back, disengage and then reengage with new ideas and perspectives can be very valuable. But like he said, it needs goals and structure to make sure you accomplish that, otherwise, you're just screwing off.

Resizes the browser, too. Why would anyone do that in 2009?

I think he is trying to be sarcastic.

working less still means you think about work, which distracts from thinking about other things.

This summary took me 1 minute to read, not ~20. It's worth the indirection.