The Secret to Improved Productivity

Ever since we got a special August membership to a local swimming pool, I have discovered how to be productive. No wonder I couldn't manage it before. I was going about it all backwards. Productivity is really counterintuitive, but I've got the hang of it now. See, if I had nothing specific I had to do in a general day, I had no deadline to do it, so I got around to it when I got around to it. Laundry would take all day, and I'd get distracted with a million other things I thought needed my attention. Once it took me about 4 hours to finish cleaning an entire floor because I kept interrupting myself.

Oddly enough, lots changed when we got the pool membership. First of all, I'm cheap. I'm not paying for any membership if we aren't going to USE it. I have the cost of the membership broken out into how much it costs for every day in the month of August, and darn it we WILL GET OUR MONEY'S WORTH if I have anything to do about it. So long as we are in town, it isn't raining, and the temperature is above 84, we will go to the pool.

Of course, going to the pool smacks of relaxation and vacation, and all things lazy. But, anyone who goes to the pool with a 2 year old knows there is nothing relaxing and lazy about it, but still, it feels like decadence. Instead of being inside an office, freezing under an air conditoning vent, I'm outside in the sun. Even better, I'm not worried the phone will ring or there will be an important email I'm missing. In fact, these pool trips are more like a vacation than any vacation I've had since my honeymoon. (Of course, I am glossing over all the nasty parts, like trying to figure out how to change one of those swim diapers, fishing the food out of Toddler's mouth before he jumps into the pool, trying not to think about what all might be in the baby pool, wading through the water at the end of the trip trying to find all the toys we brought with us ... etc. Despite all this, the sunshine and the only goal being to have fun is pure heaven.)

The problem is, I know this is decadence. You can tell me it is good for me, and good for Toddler, and all that, but I KNOW this is a guilty pleasure. After all, I spent 10 years missing the privilege. So, since a good pool trip doesn't end until right before supper, we have to get all the day's work done BEFORE we go or the trip is tainted. That means I have only the morning to get done what I used to do in an entire day. Take this morning for example -- I descaled the coffee pot (yes, again), we went to the post office, the library, and the grocery store, and got Toddler a nap, all before arriving at the pool at 1-ish. Of course, we had to take time out at the pool to feed Toddler, but he didn't care, and so long as we were out in the sunshine with the nice pool water just waiting for us, neither did I. Tomorrow I will finish the laundry, weed the flower bed, and do something else I haven't figured out yet, all before going to the pool. I know I will because I do it every day now, I love the pool so much.

(I love it so much usually Toddler is the one putting on his own shoes and saying, "Home, Mommy," long before I am even close to wanting to leave. If I'm not careful, my thin disguise as a responsible adult will be undone with this pool venture.)