Work, Life

Why Productivity Improvement Is Sometimes Pointless

Your life is not just your work.

Improving productivity is one of the most popular topics.

My friend at work recently told me he also wants to improve his productivity. This was his answer to my question about what he would most like to change in his life.

The problem here is that he doesn’t really need that.

How did I come to this conclusion? Let me explain.

From my observations, what is happening with my friend is typical for many people who work 9–5 jobs.

We have a tradition — every day, we meet in one of our mini-cafes in our office, have tea, and talk.

I must say, this is the best time of the working day. Well, you know, taking a break from fairly intense work (software development) for half an hour, sitting with a friend, chatting about the ups and downs of life — those little joys that bring great value to our lives.

Of course, we know almost everything about each other’s affairs. He always complains about the lack of time. Not because he can’t get something done at work. The reason is that he can’t focus on anything else besides work.

He comes home from work and just does nothing. He just hangs out there until the next morning when he has to go back to work.

He has a charming wife and two adorable kids at home. Fortunately, he spends time with them and cannot be reproached for that. But he constantly complains that he can’t do anything for himself. He either lies down, watches TV, or mindlessly browses the internet. At the same time, he constantly thinks that his time is somehow wasted and he can’t occupy it with anything worthwhile.

This is what he tells me over and over again.

Every time during our coffee break, he asks me how I’m doing and what’s new, and I tell him what he could do for himself — what book I’m reading, what’s happening in the world, etc. He listens and asks clarifying questions.

Then the coffee break ends, and we go our separate ways in the office.

This continues day after day, week after week, and month after month. A routine in which nothing changes — work and space not filled with anything except family obligations and prostration for anything else.

He says that weekends are even worse — he just doesn’t know how to kill those two days.

Okay, so what does productivity improvement have to do with it?

The following assumptions could be made:

1. He can’t get anything done in time for work.
2. He wants to achieve outstanding results to get promoted.
3. He wants to earn more money
4. …?

All of these assumptions are false.

1. He is an excellent professional. He has everything under complete control.
2. He has nowhere to get promoted since he has reached the highest level in his specialization.
3. Increasing his productivity will not affect his income since it depends only on his level (see the previous point).

But I can say for sure that he would be happy if he could find a space where he could do what he likes.

He told me that himself, though not in those words.

But such a space does not exist. He cannot find anything that he likes to do outside of work.

Why?

Because many people who have been working 9–5 for years eventually develop a specific mode of procrastination towards themselves.

The whole point of doing something remains at work. There is no sense of it outside of work. A person becomes an appendage of work. When he/she has to decide what to do for themselves, they cannot make any decision.

My friend is well aware that all of this is terribly wrong. He agrees that something needs to change.

Here, I think increasing productivity could help.

If he could save at least one hour on work and spend it on unloading his brain from work and setting it to load something else. Perhaps something that would allow him to feel the taste and smell of the life we had before we completely replaced it with work.

That’s what I would wish for him and for you if you have encountered the same problem, and it sometimes frustrates you, just like my friend.

I am not against work or increasing productivity, but the point is not about them at all.

Do you know what will happen if his productivity increases? He will fill the resulting gap with work. I observed this phenomenon during the COVID pandemic, when people saved time on commuting, they simply filled it — you got it right — with work. Instead of working 8–9 hours, they worked 10–12.

That’s all.

All of this is wrong. I think we need mental reframing. The routine of our existence has led us to a dead end.

We should not consider our existence default as working 5 days for 8 hours, and everything else is optional. We simply do not have time for life, and no one compensates us for this.

My friend could take the first step towards solving this problem. He could at least listen to some audiobook on the way to and from work, allowing him to see perspectives beyond this routine. After all, our life is not just what we have here and now. We can gain the experience of other people who lived in different times. There are countless wonderful things in the world that have been written about, and all of it is available to you. You just need to gather courage and agree that the food for your soul is as important as your salary.

If you have already embraced this idea and implemented it in real life, I’m glad that you have fewer problems than my friend.

In conclusion, I want to express cautious optimism. As far as I know, there is a global trend towards a 4-day workweek. If this happens, the situation will improve significantly.

At least, I hope so.

It will probably take time and effort for many people to adapt to these changes. Paradoxically, they can be painful simply because any change to an established way of life is painful.

But it will be for the better. Let’s hope together.

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