Best Thursday Ever 2008

By Russell Tibbits

A couple weeks ago, a few friends and I exchanged short emails in preparation for a Thursday night out. The night, officially termed Best Thursday Ever 2008 (or BTE2K8), acquired its name from our “extravagant” agenda which consisted of dinner at a decent restaurant and watching a UT sporting event on television, capped by a sing along at a local movie theater. However, in our continued string of emails, each friend added our own twist to the night’s affairs. As a result, the list of what we all hoped to achieve that night as a group grew lengthy, clearly too long to fulfill – even in a crazy Austin Texas night.

One friend in particular, Lisa, in an obvious attempt to further exaggerate our Thursday and create the most outrageous agenda possible, concocted an entirely new Best Thursday Ever 2008 that included the following events:

First of all, we will have to skip work.

8:00am: Flight to Cancun!! (Wear your bathing suit; bring a towel and some cash).
10:00am: Arrive in Cancun. Hit the beach.
12:00pm: Drinking out of coconuts. Find some spring breakers to party with.
1:00pm: Depending on how that is going, either continue, or we can just ditch them and get a Waverunner.
2:30pm: Flight back to Austin. (Before we board the plane, we need to call someone for a ride home from the airport.)
4:30pm: Back in Austin. We'll probably be hungry, so whoever picks us up should bring us a change of clothes and take us to dinner.
6:00pm: Reserved table at Ringers.
11:00pm: We have our OWN Justin Timberlake sing-along in the street. Bring your Justin CD; we'll just play it from my car!
1:00am: Hit up Spill for last call.2:00am: Torchy's Tacos Late Night!!

Jokes were made at our undeniable absurdity and we agreed to stick with the original plan.

But as the week progressed, I began to see the genius in Lisa’s plan. With the ultimate strategic disengagement already planned, I found myself able to focus more intently on projects, make additional sales calls and drive through tasks knowing that BTE2K8 was only a few days away. I was amazed at how I was able to push through the work week with more focus, energy and purpose assured that I would be rewarded near the end of the week.

Whether a trip to Cancun (preferably real) or a dinner with friends, give yourself a reward at the end of the week and you’ll be able to focus on your tasks until then.