The Growing Life is a recent favorite new blog of mine. One of the things I have enjoyed in the past few weeks of checking it out is the often “alternate” takes on productivity Clay, the author, offers. He often counters many of what has become accepted ideas about productivity and lifehacking – sleep hacking for instance – with reasoned, and well researched, counter arguments.
Recently, Clay laid down the gauntlet, by making this “Alternative Productivity” the main focus of the site – “Anti-Hacks” if you will. I love some of the ideas he is trying to express here:
Albert Einstein correctly started that “problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.” Anti-hacks attempt to solve problems by approaching them at a higher level of thinking. For example, while David Allen says that peace of mind (i.e. mind like water) comes from creating exhaustive todo lists and getting everything out of your head, an anti-hack might involve meditation, because all the list-making in the world will not bring you to a meditative, mind-like-water state. An anti-hack might also involve quitting your job or taking the inefficient but nevertheless effective high road.
I think there is really something to this and am excited to see a different angle taken on the productivity/lifehack meme that I consider myself a member of. I recently posted about the trend I have noticed of productivity/lifehack bloggers becoming increasingly interested in Zen, Buddhist and Mindfulness practices. Some might argue that these ideas are in fact the opposite of what we in the western world have come to accept as “productivity”.
Then, there is the idea of asking the question – To what end are we desiring greater productivity? I often wonder if there would be less need for productivity and lifehacks if we did not feel the need to do so much. If such demands were not put upon us (expected of us) by the society we live in, the companies we work for, and the people we are accountable to. Some more food for thought – How is it that Americans work more, take less vacation, shorter breaks, yet still do not best many countries (Japan, Europe) in “productivity”. Is it because, perhaps, by doing more we are actually so stressed that we get less done?
What if, as the metaphor of “Atlas Shrugged” suggests, we simply give up on the weight of our worlds on our shoulders? What if we commit to going the other direction? This means doing less, not more. Doing it all slower, with greater attention and mindfulness, and, perhaps, actually getting things done.
Link: On Alternative Productivity and Anti-Hacks for Living | The Growing Life
The important question for many office workers is “Why would you want to be more productive?”
European workers generally want to be productive to work less hours and spend more time with their family. American workers want to work more hours in order to earn more money.
There should be a clear benefit…
Jeroen, I would argue that the American office workers I know, working 50-70 hours a week, are on salary. Therefore, they make no money more money by working more. They simply do so in order to get all of the work done that is being placed upon them. The reason for such a load of work is often because the company they work for has trimmed staffing in order to increase profit and bank on the fact that workers will put in more than 40 hours a week to get the work done.
That might be another reason for the difference. Most workers in Europe get paid extra if they work more hours, so in order to keep costs down most companies don’t allow workers to make more hours and instead focus on productivity.
Patrick,
I agree with you that life is more than just “productivity” at work. I am from Eastern culture. There is a great deal of emphasis on work-life balance in east and that is absolutely essential for the growth of a healthy family as one might argue as productivity at work is for our own professional growth. I’d love to have you visit my blog and comment if you get time.
http://www.successsoul.com/blog/
Thanks
Shilpan
Thank you, Patrick. I’m damn grateful and very very honored that you mentioned me and my writing here. I’m moving to Minneapolis around November and we should perhaps get together, talk blogging, and grab a beer. Seriously.
I’m glad this discussion is starting to happen among some of the younger productivity blogs. Old guard productivity is not solving the problem: rather than actually getting what we want done, we are adding systems on systems to help us track either what we’re not doing or what we should be doing.
I wonder how much of the problem lay with the phrase “Getting Things Done.” We’re not worried, at the end, with Things – we’re concerned about the life we live. More things done does not equate to more life lived, contrary to what we’ve been taught.