The productivity trap

Today, more then ever there has been emphasis on productivity. Everyone on LinkedIn and other sites is sharing their story about it, but I would dare to say that the best way to be productive is not to try to be productive.

Self-checkout machines are in my opinion the most soulless example of this need for productivity and efficiency and the drain feels like of the same as I will describe it later.

Sure, don’t be lazy. Do things you have to do and be consistent but don’t get caught up too much in the efficiency optimization process. Efficiency optimization process itself wastes time and energy due to adaptation to “new system” that promises greater efficiency every few weeks or so. Even systems such as self-checkout machines are not prone to entropy and errors.

Find something that works for you to pace yourself and don’t overthink productivity. Just as body builders care about form while exercising and not rushing, the moment they feel form is getting off they stop and that’s enough for growth to happen. Famous body builder Mike Mentzer was big advocate of resting. In fact he firmly believed that rest is more important than exercise because during rest is when the growth happens.

I kind of noticed the same thing with myself. The more alone time I have and less content I consume (for me this even means interacting with people too much) and if I tell myself that it’s okay that I didn’t do too much that day. My brain has more spare cycles for doing its thing. I sometimes find myself replaying the thing I worked on and thinking from more angles about it if I have more time, which in turn allows me to come to better solutions or foresee other problems.