Today Was a Solid 3 on the Industriousness Scale

Have you ever had one of those days where it felt like there was absolutely nothing you could do to get your engine moving? That was me today. Oh, sure, I did complete a couple of menial tasks. I did a couple of loads of laundry, and I made a pot of chili, but that was about it. The rest of the day was spent catching up on Daredevil on Disney+ and rotting my brain on YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok. I feel like today I made great strides toward firmly imprinting my ass cheeks into the recliner in my living room. 


I would say that today rated a solid 3 on the Industriousness Scale. You may be asking what the industriousness scale is? Well, I’m here to tell you that, for the context of this blog, and in my personal life, it is an arbitrary scale that I made up to measure how productive I was during the day. You could do an internet search for the term and find out that my naming is not original. In fact, it is a part of a personality test that measures your “tendency towards hard work, diligence, and persistence.” (That is according to a Google search.)


For the purposes of this blog, I am going to be making up my own scale. And I’m going to do it right here, right now, as I write this article.


Level 1 - Virtually nothing of note had been accomplished. All that you can say for yourself is that you were able to get out of bed and go to the bathroom. Cooking meals feels like too much of a chore, so your diet consists of a granola bar, a banana, and coffee/water/soda. You don’t have to get ready for bed because you never actually got dressed for the day. Level 1 is the level that I associate illness with. This is the activity level you are at with a bad flu or norovirus. 


Level 2 - You are only slightly more productive at level 2. You may or may not have gotten out of your bed clothes for the day. You are awake and alert but devoid of ambition. Cooking is a chore, but you are able to make a sandwich, but anything involving the stove is a bridge too far. You are in your bed clothes until at least noon, and it almost feels like “what’s the point, I’m just going to put these back on in a couple of hours.” Level 2 is what I would associate with mild depression. You just feel blue and are unmotivated. 


Level 3 - In level 3, some progress is made during the day. You are out of bed at a reasonable hour, breakfast has been made, and you are thinking of getting dressed, but then you get distracted by a TikTok post, and a rabbit hole has been opened. You are aware that you are being distracted, but it isn’t that important to you. You may complete some of the tasks on your to-do list, but only the easiest ones. You do get dressed for the day, but only after being distracted by TikTok and Instagram like 10 times. It’s a serious chore not to slip back into level 2, but you manage it. 


Level 4 - This is where progress is made. This is where your to-do list is getting completed. You are up at an appropriate time, breakfast and coffee/tea are consumed, you showered, shaved, and are ready to go. Distractions are a minimum, but they still occur from time to time. When the day is done, you can look back at it and say: That was a good day. You also sleep well knowing that you accomplished everything that you set out to do for that day.


Level 5 - These days are few and far between. Think of the exact opposite of a level 1 day. You are up, fed, showered, shaved, and ready for the day. You attack your to-do list like a monkey on a cupcake. Not only do you accomplish everything that you wanted to get done, but you also add a couple of extra things to the list just so you can check them off as soon as you add them. If there was a trophy for accomplishing your tasks, you’d win it. And during your acceptance speech, you’d be wearing a cape, because superheroes wear capes. 


So there you have it. What do you think of my scale? I honestly made this up as I was typing. What level were you at today? Did I miss anything?

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