Productivity is misunderstood and joy is overlooked.
This new year, I hope you choose creativity and joy
The dawn of the new year feels like a time of renewal. One where we’re eager to welcome new beginnings and experiences in our lives, and so we set voracious goals and milestones to help us achieve them. I, for one, believe that time is ripe for new beginnings anytime you wish it to be, and not just at the precipice of the next year. But even I can’t deny the feelings of promise, inspiration, and thoughtful reflection it arouses in each one of us. Truly a festive season.
The advent of the new year is also a time for poets, pioneers, and preachers to share a few brazen words about the time to come. I love the beautiful ballads of the poets and the futuristic visions of the pioneers. They fill me with the same festive feelings of fervour. But the babble of some preachers? Not so much.
I don’t mean the elders at your place of worship ( no religious rant here ), but the life coaches and thought leaders on the internet who preach ways of life that are guaranteed to exalt you to success. You know the ones I’m talking about.
Naturally, not all coaches and thought leaders are all bad. Many share meaningful ideas and wisdom that resonate deeply with a lot of us. The infamous Simon Sinek’s notions on optimism are a personal example. You may also have leaders whose work you admire and follow.
But at times, I come across posts on social media that are littered with opinions and suggestions that leave me perplexed. As an example, I came across the following post on LinkedIn last week on “How to reclaim 40 hours a week”.
To be fair, the author does offer a handful of useful tips on focused work ( no. 3 on the image above which suggests using airplane mode on your phone), avoiding long meetings, and others I haven’t shared here. But many of the productivity hacks honestly seemed dismal ☹️. To me, they sounded like rejecting and purging the little pleasures of our life.
Our drive for hyper-productivity is denying us of joy and creativity.
At one point, the author says and I quote “Feed your passion, not your feelings” and suggests meal replacement shakes or eating the same meals every day. I believe the author borrowed the “don’t feed your feelings” parable from dietetics literature on junk eating, but his intention was really a hit and a miss. While I can certainly appreciate grocery deliveries, not all of us want to reclaim an hour of cooking a nice meal for ourselves and our families.
My partner has a penchant for creative experiments in the kitchen and his secret sauce is to never use recipes. He usually opens the pantry and fridge, picks out a couple of items he wants to use, and begins experimenting. He understands the basic chemistry between each ingredient and explores different ways to bake, braise, broil, and sometimes burn. Like with every creative process, there are days when the experiments flounder, but most often the outcome is unusual and delicious.
It gives him space to play and sparks joy for both of us as we enjoy a nice meal together. Sure, parting with this can free up a few hours every week but we will also be bidding adieu to something that delights us.
The author also suggests cancelling your Netflix subscription and wearing the same clothes every day. Too much TV is agreeably not the best way to spend one’s time, but there are enthralling works of great storytelling that entertain us and expand our horizons. Today, there are new documentaries releasing every day that teach us something new about culture, science, history, and every other topic under the sun. Rather than cancelling our Netflix subscription, we should aim to create a balance in our lives that allows us to be both productive and entertained. Even the much-adored president, Barack Obama makes time for entertainment and shares an annual list of his favourite movies, songs, and books. ( And his music choices are lit 🔥)
And I, for one, will not be wearing the same clothes every day. I see clothes as a creative expression of my personality, and I won’t give that up. A more considerate suggestion is the second one he offers — to be organised and thoughtful with your wardrobe.
My intent here is not to blemish everything this author says. I actually like some of their content, and this is just one example of the many such posts. I have seen other suggestions around simplifying trivial decisions like what to eat for breakfast or how to start your day for peak performance. I recognise the worth of routines and do follow one myself, but I would argue that breakfast isn’t a trivial decision. It may be easier and less significant than some high-pressure decisions you make have to make in life, but what you eat contributes to good health and your energy for the day.
This may be a controversial or less popular opinion, but our quest for productivity is leading us to photoshop every aspect of our lives to the end where we are erasing the moments that offer joy and creative exploration. Doing nothing, being entertained, or something else that evokes a sense of play is seen as counter-productive. How did we get here?
Maybe cooking or fashioning your outfits doesn’t resound with you. So, what’s your version of play that you’ve been told to optimise?
Listen to your podcasts at 2x speed so you can get more done? Or perhaps you fancy gardening, but the productivity gurus have you convinced that hiring a gardener will give you more time back to do something “better”.
It’s “wisdom” like this that perturbs me. We’re told that things like working or exercising are productive but cooking, gardening, your morning routine, or picking out clothes isn’t and therefore it’s not worth our time. But it’s these daily or weekly activities that add a glimmer of joy and creative expression to our lives. At the least, it offers space for the mind to relax and wander.
Thanks to a plethora of research, it is widely known that creative acts promote positive moods and our well-being. This one study by University of Otago researcher, Tamlin Conner and two American researchers surveyed around 650 young adults who journaled their daily activities and emotions for 13 days. After extensive analysis, the study concluded that small acts of creativity every day could help us flourish and improve our overall sense of well-being.
Despite there being scientific evidence on why we should slow down, and engage in play that boosts joy, we still continue to engineer our lives so we can do more and more. And we seem to connote productivity to only things that make us money like working or ideas that are socially accepted to be worth our time like exercising. In one of my favourite Ted Talks, journalist and entrepreneur Manoush Zomorodi talks about how our brain sparks creative ideas when we’re doing daily activities like laundry, washing dishes, or even simply doing nothing.
Productivity is misunderstood.
And when I say slow down, I don’t mean do fewer things or de-prioritise fruitful work. What we need is a healthy balance between focused work and the every day joyful pursuits. If cooking is not for you, by all means, find ways to simplify or outsource it. If you truly enjoy the process, welcome it into your lives with open arms. Joy piles up, and little by little, the world will be a happier place.
This new year, instead of relinquishing the little pleasures to save time, I hope you make time for joy and creativity. Choose the activities that delight you, and streamline the ones that don’t. Doing something you like can also mean spending your time productively. And sometimes, doing nothing is exactly what your mind and body need. And if you do follow life coaches and leaders ( the thoughtful ones are truly amazing ), I hope you choose the company of ones who impart ideas that promote well-being and talk about success in a realistic, positive light.
Here’s to a jubilant and sparkly 2023.
Hi! I’m Smriti, a product designer doing her best work at the intersection of design, technology, and well-being. Writing is my favorite form of creativity, and I share interesting stories about design and everyday life. If you’ve ever liked what I write, I just want to say a big joyful thank you :). ✌🏼
