Last night I was setting up shop in my living room to do some video editing on a project I’m working on. I pulled my power cord out for my laptop and spent the next minute or so trying to bend, twist, and smooth out the kinks to make the cord less, um, kinky. Now, it had been sitting in the bottom of my computer bag for a while. At work, my laptop sits docked on my desk, connected to a power source, and when I use it at home, I usually have a long enough battery life to get me through what I need. But last night, I knew I would run out of time with the video editing and processing, plus, I wanted my screen on the brightest setting. So basically, my power cord had been sitting in my bag, wrapped in the same position, for an extended period of time. As most of you know, it’s not good for cords to bent or kinked for too long or it can begin to decay, hence the un-kinking.
Fast forward to the end of my night as I packed back up. I unplugged my power cord and wrapped it up in the exact same way that it had been resting in my bag. Why? Because it is the best way to do it. Based on how the cords leave the adapter, the length and flexibility of the cords, and the little Velcro thing, there is one most logical way to fold it up in a way that minimizes stress and space. So all the kinks that I spent time on at the beginning were just recast and my efforts wasted.
---------------------------------------------------------------------For over a year now, I’ve been working out pretty consistently. I am fortunate enough to have a fitness center in the basement of my building at work, so it makes it easier to shoot down for an hour before I head home. I am very stubborn when it comes to putting together a workout. I have had training programs in the past, between football, baseball, and the gym we had in the dorms, I have an idea of what I want to do now. I made a plan based on working out 5 days a week (no weekends, given I’m not driving 20 miles to get to my gym), and I have a plan which I believe will help me reach my goals and maintain the plateau I reach. I run every day, and I vary my run every day. After my run, I have two different routines, one involves floor exercises (sit-ups and push-ups), the other dumbbells. I alternate every day, and I haven’t changed (except number of reps and amount of weight) since I started.
I don’t know if what I’m doing is the best method, but so far it’s been successful. The only problem is, after 14 months of doing the same workout, I’m still using the same muscles, wearing the same parts of my body, and basically drilling myself into a groove that gets deeper and deeper the more I do it. Eventually, you're just spinning your tires. Even though I deem this work out exactly what I need for my body to get into the shape and condition that I’m determined to reach (and overlooking the fact that I’m most likely wrong), no matter how much I do between work outs, if I keep doing what I’ve always done, then I’m going to wear out the same parts.
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This isn’t really an apples to apples comparison, but bear with me. I take pride in finding the best way to do things, especially things that I do repeatedly. I’ve driven from the city to work over 600 times, and I’d like to think that after all that, I could find the fastest way to get home. I’ve spent enough time in PowerPoint for my job that I‘d like to think I’ve found the shortcuts, the key combinations, and the rules of the program enough to become as efficient as possible while I work. I’ve made my lunch for work about 95% of the time since I started here, and I’d like to think I’ve found the best way to put the twist tie back on the bread bag, to spread the mustards, to layer the lunch meat, to put away each component in the fridge, to pile everything into my lunch bag so the lid of my yogurt doesn’t dig into the bread, the pieces of fruit don’t roll around, and the can of iced tea doesn’t tip over. Am I a little OCD? Whatever, I’m not a doctor.
But my point is that I think about this stuff. And when I find something that works, I do it until I find something better. The problem is, sometimes the same thing over and over again can turn out to be the wrong thing. Not because it's wrong, but because over-repetition of most things can be dangerous. Whether you do it because wires are wearing thin (always wrapping your headphones around your iPod the same way), or drinks are getting bland (only buying one kind of juice because it’s your favorite), it doesn’t hurt to break the routine, to try something new, to switch things up and see what happens. Just because it’s the best way, or your favorite, or you think you’re too stubborn to change, doesn’t mean that it’s not time for a right turn. Unless you're in NASCAR. Then don't turn right. Otherwise, for whatever reason you have, try something new once in a while. What's the worst that can happen?
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