1:47 PM: I suppose I’ve reached the point of habituation with journaling. Yesterday, I had intended to make another late first entry. The plan was to do so shortly after getting clocked in at work. I didn’t think of the journal again until around 8 PM. I thought about making an evening entry and after some deliberation decided that I wanted to see how it felt to not. I didn’t like it. And it wasn’t simply because it was the first day I’d missed in a while. I’m fairly certain of that as I had initially intended to start today without making a first entry and I didn’t like that either. I’d thought about taking a few days off to see if perhaps I had more to say and if the quality would increase. However, the notion of checking my phone, initiating the reactive part of my day, and getting into the car and driving off to a patient’s house, before vomiting forth at least some drivel, was unsettling, disconcerting. It simply felt wrong and was at least mildly distressing. So here I am. Slingin entries like a playa do. Quality and profundity be damned.
4:25 AM: Today the value of easily obtainable daily goals was reinforced. As I wrote out the goal for “clear desk” I tried to ignore the subtle whispers of sensible reservations. While it seemed obtainable at the outset of the day, it did not account for the possibility of things going awry. I ended up with more hours than I’d anticipated and the goal was suddenly overzealous and overly optimistic. I could have pressed through and accomplished it, but would it have been worth it? Apparently, I decided it would not. If instead, I had made the goal to address a single hard drive or only a few papers, I’d have definitely grinded through the easy task rather than leave the item uncrossed on my list. I would have been in a slightly better position at the end of the day and I’m starting to think that all the slightlies compound into exponential growth.
