I changed it up yesterday. Most of my evenings end up with me on the couch trying to get through a couple of Netflix episodes (or more recently, episodes of Workaholics on Amazon Prime.) Those were perfectly good ends to the evening, but they weren’t something I was proud of. I was passive and not in control of things. I was exposed to entertainment instead of taking charge of things I wanted to do.
Work kind of got to me last week. While I did accomplish things, it felt like I was managing things. I don’t enjoy being a manager. I don’t think it plays to my strengths. I’m a doer and I like to see projects get completed. I felt moody and cranky by the end of last week. I wanted some control back in my projects. I guess the first step in regaining some control is to change things you can control. So that’s what I did.
We’re having a cookie baking contest at work on Wednesday. I decided that I am going to win this contest. I’m not much of a baker (though I do enjoy consuming cookies.) I like cooking with alcohol (because I get to consume some during production), so I googled “Guinness Chocolate Cookies.” There was such a thing! It looked like a simple recipe, and I already had half the ingredients, so I decided to try it out on Monday night.
It wasn’t that difficult of a process even though I didn’t have a mixer. I think mixing by hand makes it slightly more fluffier, but they still turned out delicious. (I forgot where I heard this, but I like the theory that anything with a cup of butter and sugar is delicious no matter what happens to it.) They turned out halfway decent. I spent my evening listening to the Current radio station, cooking, and cleaning up. It felt like I had some control in my day again. Accomplishing something made me feel good.
Taking on some projects and reducing my time passively consuming content is the first step towards gaining some control. This article really inspired me to make a change. It’s so easy to be a mindless consumer of things. Having your brain filled at all times with content and information leaves very little room for precious reflection and personal growth.
I don’t think one has to be a real productive person to be the envy of friends. Accomplishing one project can leave you to be the envy of your friends, “You baked cookies last night? Wow! I don’t plan on accomplishing a bunch of projects in one night every night. If I can get even just one thing accomplished, I know it will feel pretty good. I think I’m going to tackle some projects with my car after work. That’s been an area that I don’t really enjoy facing, but I think it’s time that I just check things off the checklist.
I’m giving up Facebook for the week and I’m going to take on some other projects, like cookies. That will feel really good.
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