Screw Maximising Efficiency

I spent the weekend helping my dad in the garden

My god

Beyond frustrating

Tasks that I believe could take 20 minutes were taking hours

Tasks being prioritised that I believed were far down the list of what was actually important

Objects being placed in the middle of pathways, creating transit friction points, thus increasing time required, thus decreasing efficiency 

I clocked off around 14:30

I had gotten all my tasks done for the day

I spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch

Warm and cosy inside 

Netflix, crackers and hummus 

But as the sun went down and darkness washed over the garden

I realised Pop was still going

Slowly and carefully working away

I stood at the window watching him

I thought to myself

Why the hell is he still be out there?

Why the hell would he let things take so much longer than necessary?

What about maximising efficiency? 

Then it hit me

Maybe he’s out there because that’s where he wants to be

Maybe he actually enjoys it

Maybe the process of being outside working away carefully on a project 

Is what brings him joy…

This got me thinking

About the tasks I do in my life because I just want them to be done

Versus the tasks I do in my life because I simply love doing them

I’m an actor who hates learning lines

I think its such a waste of time

I want it to take the least amount of time and energy possible 

I once wrote my lines out on a big piece of cardboard and asked the casting director to hold them off camera so I didn’t have to learn them

If only you could’ve seen their unimpressed face (side note: I got that job)

But then I think about last weekend when I was on a friend’s farm 

We spent the day doing some amateur fencing

Wide open paddocks with cattle 

A pair of wire cutters

Country music 

A cold dam to jump in 

I could do that all day

Curious

What am I doing in my life just to get done?

What am I doing in my life with the least amount of time & effort possible?

Versus 

What am I doing in my life because I simply love the process?

What makes me forget to eat? 

What makes time disappear?

Mmm 

Thanks for the reminder Pop