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'Productivity Is Dangerous' (theoutline.com)

Posted by msmash on from the perspective dept.

Vincent Bevins, writing for The Outline: So every morning, I get messages asking me to click through to articles like "How I Optimized My Morning Routine To Get More Done Than ever -- before 8 a.m.!" The people posting links like this have a sickness, and we need to stop it before it gets out of hand. Of course, if you actually click through to this trash, it's a bit shocking to see what they actually do. Some guy is proud that he set aside his social life so that he could unleash four extremely psychologically damaging apps on the world by the age of 30. Or it's like, "Congratulate Lisa on her new job as advertising director for Nestle in Africa." Here's a productivity idea: Just, fucking, don't make shitty apps, or do advertising for Nestle, or really for anything. I often see shit like, "Ten Habits I Have QUIT to Get More Done," and I think, "Maybe quit writing posts like this." If you're waking up at 4 a.m. to write 1,000 words about how you write 1,000 words every day, what are you actually getting done? Just stay in bed. Whenever I am back in the Protestant centers of modern capitalism (New York or London, basically), it's especially jarring to remember what it feels like to treat being busy as if it were a virtue.

4 of 233 comments (clear)

  1. What the hell is this? by rsilvergun · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It reads like an extended /. rant that gets modded up to +3 before finally being modded back down to -1 troll. Who greenlit this?

    People are more productive because we live in an incredibly competitive world. There's 6 billion+ people out there are most are dirt poor and a good chunk of them can work 12 hr/day 7 days a week for 20 years before dying of a heart attack. That's your competition. And as productivity increases there's less work to go around and more competition for what's left.

    --
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    1. Re:What the hell is this? by networkBoy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The real trick is to *appear* competitive, while embracing being a "Loser" https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-or-the-office-according-to-the-office/ and producing enough that your clueless bosses are happy and staying off the sociopath's radar.

      automation is a god-send in this case. Just automate as much of your job as possible and then execute said automation while doing something else that appears productive but is entertaining. E.g. everyone knows what FB looks like in a browser window, but /. just looks like a wall of text, and since you're typing it appears that you're working dutifully, even when the boss sits literally next to you in the open plan office. (use a small browser window, with minimal UI).

      Just sayin...

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  2. I'm gone fishing by ruddk · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm gone fishing
    I got me a line
    Nothing I do is gonna make the difference
    So I'm taking the time

    And you ain't never gonna be happy
    Anyhow, anyway
    So I'm gone fishing
    And I'm going today

    --
    L'Idiot
  3. Re: Simple enough by Reverend+Green · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There is NO social "safety net" in America. Trust me - been there, done that, thank God I survived.

    There are plenty of long-term welfare dependency programs, don't get me wrong. But there's basically NOTHING for a normal productive worker who's temporarily down on his luck.

    Don't believe me? Try it sometime! You'll be unpleasantly surprised.