Productivity culture is coming for my hobbies. 🫡

I’m a planful person. But yesterday, impulsivity struck, and I decided to go for a bike ride in the middle of the day. In particular, I wanted to explore a trail near my house that eventually links up to the Erie Canalway Trail (which is like 360 miles of path-only biking, the glory!). Subverting car culture by riding on trails fills me with unencumbered glee.

So I just… did it. (Importantly: I don’t have a full-time job right now, I have a flexible schedule, I am receiving external financial support; this ride was uniquely possible due to these details, I am grateful.)

Only, here’s the thing: rather than just getting on my bike and riding, I realized that there were… steps to complete. And specifically, there were two distinct types of steps to complete: the preparation steps, and—regrettably—the productivity steps.

Preparation

Listen: I did not immediately/impulsively start riding—as some might, because that is a totally lovely way of interacting with yourself and your bike—I had to prepare. (Planful person.) This included putting on “the right” clothes, packing a saddle bag, forgetting and then remembering my lock, contemplating what snacks I might need if I got hungry in an hour, searching for the top of my water bottle for 10 minutes before eventually giving up and using a different one… you get the idea.