Productivity

I have things I like to do to make me feel productive, but I don't always get them done.

For 2016, I resolved to clean every day and do strength training every week. I didn't do perfect, but I did decently well. I made no commitment to do these things in 2017, but I would like to do them. I'm a terrible housekeeper, and I have practically no muscle.

Realistically, though, I don't get them done as much as I would like. This week, I only cleaned once (and by that, I mean I only had one period of time where I cleaned--I clean up smaller messes), and I only did strength training once as well. I've been trying to think of what I do that prevents me from being productive. But in truth, I think I usually am being productive. I just can't get everything done I want.

First off, I sleep. I go to bed early or get up late or both. I don't regret it, especially since I have a job that requires full mental engagement. Sleeping is very productive.

Yellowbell

Trail season has returned! For which I am very happy. I got three runs in this week, but I might have done four or five if it hadn't been so rainy. I wouldn't consider trail running to be unproductive, but it's also my very favorite activity. Never before have I daydreamed about a hobby so much. It's nice when what I love to do is also semiproductive. (It's exercise, after all.) The wildflowers are back in season, so there's been lots of pink longleaf phlox and dozens of yellowbells, which have been as abundant as sego lilies are in June.

Glacier lilies

 I really know wildflower season has returned when I see the yellow glacier lilies. I first encountered them two years ago, though I didn't know what they were called until last year. They kind of freak me out, due to the fact that they face downward but curl back. Also, two years ago my Pandora stations were playing some really weird songs (like this one and this one), and I would think about them when I was running and seeing all the flowers. Although glacier lilies aren't my favorite, I'm happy that they lead to the arrowleaf balsamroot of April, the various penstemons of May, the mulesears and sego lilies of June, the Richardson's geranium of July, the sunflowers of August, and the chicory of September.

(Can I just say how happy blossoming trees make me? I love them even more than autumn trees, even though I prefer autumn as a season. But I am sad that our apricot tree had like fifteen blossoms before they died out, so we won't have apricots this year. Oh well. Looks like we'll have plenty of plums. And I mostly like apricots to make desserts, so it's healthier this way.)

I also spent time trying to find the next candy I'm reviewing for The Impulsive Buy, so I spent Wednesday going to lots of different stores. I didn't find the candy I needed until Thursday, but I did amass quite a collection of Easter-themed treats on Wednesday. I wouldn't call it a waste of time, since I do get paid per review. I'm only sad that I bought some small Lindt chocolate bunnies that have turned up missing. :(

Thursdays I spend tutoring, because I try to give back to the community after I was born privileged. So that's productive.

And on Saturday, I made parsnip soup. On Monday, I was at the store, and I saw they had a large supply of fennel, a vegetable I tried at Christmastime. (It blew my mind, because it's basically licorice-flavored celery.) I thought, "Do that many people use fennel?" And then I thought I better try some vegetable I hadn't had before so that the obscure veggies don't go to waste. So I bought some parsnips, in part so I would feel better about myself (I was also buying Peeps Oreos, carrot cake Clif bars, and bunny-shaped graham crackers). The parsnip soup was good, but not as good as the carrot or celery soups that are basically the same.

So if sleeping, running, shopping, tutoring, writing reviews, and cooking are all things that I do that are productive, what am I doing that's not productive? What's keeping me from the productive things of cleaning and strength training? And the answer is Facebook. That's basically the only thing I do that's not productive. But I'm not ready to give it up. However, I'm trying to make it so that it takes less of my time. It's extremely annoying, because it shows me every time my friends like or comment on something. So whenever my feed shows them liking a post by a person or page I don't know or don't like, I will unsubscribe from all posts by that irrelevant person or page, and I hope that eventually I will have unsubscribed from pretty much everything that doesn't interest me. I don't usually unsubscribe from shares, except when they're from those obnoxious old ladies who share everything under the sun. It also makes me feel less guilty not accepting friend requests from people I hardly know and unfriending people, since I don't need more people to contribute to my news feed. (I have nine more unfriendings for 2017, but I'll do them weekly again in 2018. I'm very OCD about this.)