Elevating our Game

During a recent marathon of Aaron Sorkin’s great short-lived series “Sports Night” (a marathon that I started by watching both seasons on DVD, which further proves my self-starting skills) I came upon an episode entitled “Moving Day.”  As the whip-smart Sorkinian dialogue washed over me throughout the rest of the marathon, it got me thinking about the meaning of the term on a variety of levels.  The deduction: every day can and should be a Moving Day.

In the context of the episode the goal was for Sports Night (the fictional show) to move up in the ratings, something they’d strived to do since their first day on the air.  In our own lives we should be doing the same, elevating our game as often as we can – every day. While we don’t have the Nielsen people to please and network executives to answer to (okay, some of you may have…and good luck with that), we do have agreements we have made with ourselves to be as productive and proficient as we can be.

We can move forward every day.  We can read a book – fiction or non – and that will move us forward in knowledge and literary awareness.  We can spend time with our family, which will nurture our relationships with them, moving them forward.  We can eliminate a bad habit – or move towards eliminating it – which will give us the opportunity to move forward with the habits that serve us well.  We can review our accomplishments and our setbacks – which will move us forward in that we remain on top of them and learn from them.  (I think there’s something called “The Weekly Review” that might just work here.)

The bottom line is – in order to be truly productive, you have to move. If you don’t move, you’re standing still…and that’s when life can pass you by.

I guess that means no marathon of The West Wing in one sitting for me.  Too many seasons.

Mike Vardy is a regular contributor to GTD Times. With his great sense of humor and self-professed productivity expert credentials, we hope you enjoy his perspectives on GTD!

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8 Comments

  1. Taking this idea even literally, I find that I’m most productive when I’m up and about.

    Even though I have a home office, it’s easy to get into a rut and suddenly find myself unproductively surfing my RSS feeds and YouTube. So to alleviate this, I like to do work at Cafe’s and even parks. In addition, I find my most creative thinking done while walking around, and even on the Public Transportation system (eg. buses and trains).

    So like Mike says, “in order to be truly productive, you have to move.” And I find this to be literally true.

  2. What episode are you referring to? Moving Day isnt the name in any of the episodes on the Wikipedia page. Just wondering which one you were referencing. Sports Night is fantastic.

  3. Micah,

    Thanks for the comment. I stand corrected. It was a West Wing episode that was entitled “Moving Day.”

    The Sports Night episode to which I am referring is “Mary Pat Shelby,” where the team has scored a ratings-boosting interview.

    Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Stay tuned for an upcoming post dubbed “When To Stand Corrected.” I appear to have material for it now!

    Regards,
    Mike Vardy

  4. Great post, Mike. Speaking of moving day, I’m *waiting for* a friend to move off his position and recognize how terrific Sports Night is. But it’s probably a *someday/maybe*. Like you, I watched all of them on DVD within a short time.

  5. Great episode. Dan saying “This is what friends gear up for” is a line I always remember.

  6. Craig & Dave,

    Thanks for the kudos. Literally.

    Micah,

    That episode arch was great on the whole. Really developed the characters. You could see the potential of the series over the long haul. Too bad the long haul was only three seasons!

  7. Mike: I enjoyed your post. I’m another huge fan of Aaron Sorkin’s smart writing. What a talent.

  8. asiriusgeek:

    Thanks for the comment! As for Sorkin, I can’t wait to to see what he does with that Facebook script “The Social Network” he’s working on. With Fincher attached to direct it could be a thing of beauty!

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