I often wonder why people complain, “I haven’t done anything productive today.”
It is practically impossible.
Why? Let me explain.
What is productivity? By definition, it means, causing or providing a good result.
Anything and everything you do is productive because unconsciously, we are all learning and evolving from even the smallest tasks that we do.
Yes, we are always learning. And learning is productive. I’m not talking only about creative classes or actively honing new skills for work. Those are the things we take up consciously. The visibles.
I am talking about learning from things around you. The invisibles.
- Learning a different perspective, a different way of looking at things. This could be from books, even a show you randomly watched, or some random post on the internet including a meme!
- Learning how peaceful it can be to sit and stare at nature for a while
- Learning to forgive and/or forget
- Learning to solve your issues
- Learning your family’s needs
- Learning how to interact better
- Learning to step back a bit and breathe
- Learning new ideas
The list goes on.
Jennifer Aniston had famously quoted “No regrets, only lessons” indicating we learn even from our mistakes, if not today then tomorrow.
But the point is, to many of us, these little things don’t count. Probably because these changes are not happening aggressively, screaming for our attention. These changes are very silent. And peaceful. But the thing I find most astonishing is that over time, they compound. Each little change is like a building block, contributing towards forming the person that we will eventually become.
It is only years from now, when you look back, do you realize how much you have changed in this process of learning from everyday things.
You have evolved. That I think, is a beautiful thing to reflect on.
The Monkey Dilemma 
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