A Productive Day

The other day a sibling asked what I meant by "I had a productive day." It was a good question, and immediately brought to mind that we all probably think about that term differently. So I thought I'd wake up this afternoon by rambling a little about this.

Being productive is only half the recipe. The other half of a *good* day, would be "enrichment." Of course, being more Spanish than German, it's not split down the middle. Enriching is the stuff like good conversation with good company, snuggling with a loved one, hugging family or trying the vulcan mind meld with a squirrel at the kitchen window. It's learning new stuff, trying new things. Sometimes it's just noticing old things in a new way. It can be just about anything, but its characteristic is a nice, uh... enriching feeling. Watching TV or doing anything that's become rote very seldom qualifies.

Productivity is usually enriching, but enrichment does not have to be "productive." Now that we've cleared that up :-) ... productivity, to me, is the feeling I get when I'm moving towards goals and objectives I've set for myself. Doing chores and taking care of urgent stuff are objectives the outside world has set *for* me, so they don't fall under my definition of being productive. I try to keep those things to a minimum as much as possible. Sometimes that does require some pre-planning up front, and that planning part may slide back into my productivity quandrant.

Productivity, to me, is really about personal integrity. It's about keeping my word to myself. If I decide something is worth pursuing or investigating and my actions don't reflect that, then there is some conflict I need to better understand. Even though I'm telling myself I want something, it may be that the desire comes from trying to conform to some external self-image of what I should be doing, and parts of me resent it. So being productive is not just about external action and behavior, it's about getting all those parts rowing in the same direction. And either throwing the trouble-makers overboard, or appointing them captain. Either option prevents me from rowing in circles.

A productive day then is not necessarily getting to the final destination, but the spirit of unity and skillful effort that comes with shared endeavor towards a common goal. An important goal, not an urgent one. I'm sure there will be urgent stuff stacked up long after I'm gone, but I hope I get to as much important stuff as I can.

Once that's working smoothly, the only other challenge is kaleidescope eyes. An affliction caused by the crystallization of airborne salt particles on the cornea of the eye which presents the illusion of multiple destinations when there is really only one. Perhaps a future topic. (see what I did there? :-))