A Halfway Point

Zachary T

October 24, 2011 - 5:30 AM

Week five is upon us, the half way point of the term and the most logical place for a second wind. And yet as I write this post early on Monday morning, I am beginning to wonder how many second winds I have left. It would be interesting to see a graph of my productivity over the course of a term to identify the low points, the high points and try to make sense of what causes them. Productivity is an interesting thing. The other day my good friend and I were talking about the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and how Franklin, being a very astute observer, noticed the differences in mood in his co-workers and how that seemed to correlate with the amount and type of work they were doing. If they had steady but do-able work that occupied them, they would have better attitudes. This was probably resulted from them having a sense of accomplishment. Whereas on days when the workers only had intermittent work to occupy them, they were idle and had worse attitudes.

This raised a couple of interesting points for me. One is that people enjoy accomplishing things. There is great satisfaction from finishing something you've set out to do, especially when the task is challenging and takes a lot of time to complete. The harder the task, the larger the reward. A no-brainer really. Furthermore, this sense of accomplishment builds momentum. Once you get the ball rolling and keep crossing things off of your to-do lists, it only gets easier. I must admit that moving through my to-do lists is one of the most satisfying feelings I get during the course of a day. A better work ethic leads to a better attitude and vice versa.

The issue often is getting the ball of productivity rolling. It is much easier to continue doing something you've already started then it is to get started in the first place. At least this is how it is in my case. Distractions are annoying but at the time they may seem more pressing than the task at hand. That is why I believe it is important to have a vision. Ambition, goals, drive, purpose, anyway you look at it there must be a reason for why you are doing what you are doing. And if you don't know, ask yourself. Today is merely the result of yesterday and tomorrow will be the result of today. While I cannot say that every one of my actions is methodical and will most certainly move me towards my goals, I can say that I try. In fact, the goal is something that may never be achieved as you imagined it, but there is a lot to say about the journey taken in pursuing that goal.