Following a Productive Day

Yesterday brought more than average focus with more than an average number of check marks on my daily list of what I actually did.  Most tasks recur before long, many even the following day.  Exercise or sleep hygiene never reach a conclusion but a few things do.  I completed my assigned audiobook and Jewish themed work, a not very imaginative biography of Menachem Begin read by a narrator who did not work on pronunciation of foreign words in advance.  My weekly New England Journal quota of two articles has been completed, though there is no reason for not reading another.  BP taken, treadmill done.  Weight and Waist Circumference recorded for the week.  Fleishig dishes done and not to return until after next shabbos.  Went to Trader Joe's so no more supermarket forays this week.  Antagonized a few FB friends and their friends whose political hashkafas are more rigid than mine.  Edited a chapter of a manuscript for a close friend and offered what I hope will be helpful revisions.  Commented on a KevinMD essay and got a response from the author.  Registered for a seminar later in the week.  Did some writing of my own, though not as polished or focused as I had hoped.  It was a productive day, which I'm disappointed to acknowledge today brought me less satisfaction than I had hoped.

I never achieved flow, except maybe when editing and commenting on the manuscript.  I didn't upgrade my house in any way.  Supper satisfied, though prepared by my wife so I had no effort other than to choose and buy the main course from Trader Joe's freezer.

A number of years ago, I began a project of writing at the end of each day five things that went well into a marble notebook, a form of hakaras hatov, or appreciation of the good.  In hopes of finding my effort more satisfying, I've reconstructed a smaller variant.  three things and written on the back of my task list from that morning.  It's easy to get three.