PLAN YOUR TASKS, ENJOY YOUR ICE CREAM
Wednesday, February 10, 2021 - daily column #6664
I wish I was eating ice cream. Seems so easy, no work involved.
What a great way to start every day, or end it, or both.
And seriously, can we ever have too much ice cream?
Sitting down to any task is work. Even when that activity gives us pleasure – not because it is pleasant, but because it is a task that takes effort, burns calories, and uses up the required attention.
For instance, if I get pleasure from going for a walk, writing this column, eating ice cream or talking to a friend, that’s all pleasure.
If we schedule such activities and build habits for them and a routine around it, it becomes a task. I’m not trying to be absurd – just trying to separate how we see tasks from how we view pleasure. This is a simple mental exercise. Most people understand, so where, you might ask, does this word game end and my point begin?
Stay with me; there is a point at the end.
When the pleasant activity becomes a task, a routine and a habitual one, does it remain pleasant – or is some joy lost because ‘I have to do this’?
If the joy is lost, maybe that is a signal worth recognizing, that it is time to change that pattern.
If the joy is enhanced, the only question is whether that is a healthy habit to ramp up (i.e. the ice cream) because who wants to stop enjoying ice cream?
If the task/habit/scheduling of it becomes mindless – and by that, I mean ‘unthinking’ we can get into a robot-rut I suppose, but that might also mean it’s a great time to get the brain doing something else while the body is busy on that task.
I’m thinking about listening to podcasts while working out, reading while on the treadmill, or visiting with a friend while on a walk. Yes, you are way ahead of me here – many of us do these things, but I wonder if we are stretching much when we do that?
Just as athletes improve their training by adding weights, or more planned repetitions, or distance to their workouts, don’t our minds need the same? If we can work-through, play-through, and write through the day with ease, where does the edge come from – that something extra to test us, push/pull us to better achievement, and more meaningful thought, or thrill us?
Now for advanced learning, substitute ‘lovemaking’ everywhere you read ice cream in this piece …