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A Sense of Achievement

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Today’s post comes from Congressman Loomis Beechly, representing all the water surface area in the State of Minnesota.

beechly-speech

Greetings Constituents!

As your elected Representative, I wanted to take a moment before my Summer Break begins to thank each one of you for the calls you’ve made and the mail you’ve ee’d about the work of our 113th Congress! I agree with all of you on everything you said, and every single concern you expressed is my number one priority! And I know that many of my colleagues in the House feel exactly the same way about all their constituents too.

In the end, politics is pretty simple. We just want to be loved. And how do you show someone you love them? You listen, and do what you’re told, of course!

I’m not using that as an excuse, but it does help explain why we in Congress are currently having a hard time getting things done. Face it – you’re confusing!

I’m not saying it’s your fault, because that would get me in even more trouble. But maybe you should look at this in a different way. Right now, with multi-tasking being All The Rage, we have to ask ourselves if we in Congress are setting a good example for the busy people of this great nation.

So many Americans are trying to squeeze more productivity out of each and every minute, you can’t blame them for feeling overwhelmed and under appreciated! There is simply too much to do, and no one is speaking against the urge to do even more. Why? Because no one has that kind of time! And as long as productivity stays high, there’s no reason for employers to even consider hiring the laid-off millions who are exhausting themselves daily in a fruitless search for work.

That’s where we, your elected Representatives, come to the rescue.

As leaders, our task right now is to lead the American workforce towards acceptance of a bigger and better standard of idleness. We are aggressively doing nothing in excellent style while eating great food and wearing nice clothes. And we’re doing it for an unselfish reason – to show you what real recreational non-productivity looks like. When I’m home in my district, I model this by fishing all day. Here in Washington, I have to show it by talking endlessly about nothing in particular and reaching no compromises of any kind. It’s like fishing, but without the catch. I just release, constantly.

Only by doing this can I make it safe for you to begin to relax and to stop multi-tasking. Because no matter how lazy and worthless you become, you can be certain that your existence is still not as pointless as that of your Congressman.

So the next time some sourpuss points out that the House has accomplished practically nothing this session, I hope you’ll do what I would do – respond with a smile, a nod, a word of gratitude, and a nap.

Your Congressman,
Loomis Beechly

How productive are you?

34 thoughts on “A Sense of Achievement”

  1. Good morning everyone.

    As my old boss, Earl Armstrong, used to say: “Sometimes I sits and thinks, sometimes I just sits.” Some days I’m very productive, other days not so much. It all depends, too, I suspect on how you define productive. Do you consider it productive to sit and read? Do you consider it productive to be pulling weeds? Or do you actually have to produce something in order to be productive? Perhaps it’s time for me to sits and thinks.

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    1. I never seem to get to the point where I can feel comfortable with taking time off to just sit and think. I do end up not getting much done on some days. Low productivity days are not days of relaxation for me. Those days when I don’t do much are filled with worry about how I am going get things done that should be completed before long.

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    2. i had a friend who a couple of years ago pointed out that kids dont get time to daydream anymore. the art of figuring stuff out is one of the things i enjoy most. i do it in my sleep, driving down the raod, looking off into the dsitance or making pancakes. its not necessary to have a seperate time to task but if you fill every open moment with facebook and smartphone stuff it may not be a part of the brain that gets formed properly. google is a killer in some respects and a blessing in another. i guess every generation faces new challanges, here is a great example of one that is in our midst at the moment. that old saying about i do one theing i do it very well and when i have finished i move to the next thing is not a part of my program. i wonder if it is anyones anymore.

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      1. When I was a kid I had a secret that I guarded from the rest of the world because I feared it would be devastating if anyone learned it. My secret was that I was a daydreamer. I don’t mean I sometimes daydreamed but that I daydreamed almost constantly, no matter what it looked like I was doing. The habits of living with stories all the time and living in one’s head are surely good if you mean to be a writer someday, but I couldn’t see that back then.

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  3. my productivity these days is dependent on others helping me to get it done. i am ok at directing and assigning priorities but not as good at starting a task and going form start to finish. i tend to remember three or four things along the way that distract me form getting the primary focus looked after. i am working on it but… in some things like building a woodworking job or mowing the lawn i am good to start and get to the end but in going about formulating a program or a plan there are options that get responded to as you go and need to be open ended. i am good at this but tend to go three or 4 directions at once. nothing gets done fast but lots gets done eventually.

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  4. I will not be productive at all for the next few days as we are taking a road trip to Denver for a small family gathering for daughter’s high school graduation. I will be off the trail until Tuesday.

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  5. First, in case anyone cares, I finally answered yesterday’s question today. It took a while to realize I had something to say.

    tim did a nice job of expressing the pleasure of being productive at moments that look like idleness to others. In my career as a writer I was often most productive when it seemed I was doing nothing. You can compose stories in your head while doing something else, and then when you get to a typewriter or computer you can call up those stored memories and make them into something people will enjoy.

    But unlike the rest of you, that is changing for me. I no longer can summon up creativity whenever I choose to. People who fear old age usually fear dementia and loss of mental clarity. What I have experienced is more like loss of energy. It becomes harder and harder to be productive. Two days ago I committed to writing a new book, and now I can see that it will be a challenge to find the energy to do what I used to do with insouciant ease.If I were a baseball player, my team would be looking for ways to trade me off in exchange for a younger prospect or even “a player to be named later!”

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    2. write that book the same way you eat an elephant. one bite at a time. i have a favorite qute form leo busvcaglias mother. she went back to school to get her college degree at age 71 and when someone pointed out she would be 75 when she graduated she said yes but i am going to be 75 that year anyway. write the book. you may find it brings you energy you may find it does other weird stuff. you are going to have time with your am audience taking a corner in the morning read area of your life. judt give it that energy. cmopn steve.

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  8. I’m on the high end of the productive scale. I know that currently multi-tasking is getting a bad rap, but I’m a queen of multi-tasking. In fact, I’m very bad at just sitting. (Now, if I have a book, that’s another story.)

    Of course, that still doesn’t mean that the house is as clean as I wish it were….

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    2. I’m so bad at multi-tasking that I can no longer make more than one thing for supper without going crazy. Maybe two things if one of them is bread that is already made.

      But I’m not very good at single-tasking either. I guess I’m just not good at tasking.

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      1. Edith, how about multi-nontasking. You and I might both be good at that. What do you think? Maybe you don’t want to claim to be talented in that way. I think I have lots of skill at multi-nontasking when I look around and see all the things I haven’t managed to get done.

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  9. Crow Girl – if you’re on today, thanks for recommending Please Don’t Feed the Bears! I got it through InterLibrary Loan (from a library in Milwaukee). It’s a lot of fun – copied out a bunch of recipes today. Can’t wait to try “Taco Thrash-erole” and “Plain Ramen Just Isn’t Going to Cut it Today Soup”.

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        1. Olivia Schierbeck jones
          She banged her knee hard at he end of the day and hopes to be able to perform
          Keeping our fingers crossed
          Don’t know if they have understudies for the understudies

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  11. It all depends on what you consider “productive.” The walk last night with my best pal – highly productive (even though “all” we did was walk and chat about nothing in particular). Weekend car camping with Daughter – also highly productive (and good for the soul…the actual output for the weekend consisted mostly of consumed s’mores and memories). Some days at work it feels like all I do is answer questions and provide information so other people can get “actual work” done – but that feels productive, too. Today I am highly distracted and having a hard time focusing, so it’s probably good that today’s output involves letting programming scripts run for 20-30 minutes at a crack while I pretend to do other things…

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  14. Advice???? Last night I made some salsa using my little tiny hot peppers. Got some of the pepper juice (capsicum?) under my thumb nail. Still burning 24 hours later. Any ideas???

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