https://www.newyorker.com/culture/office-space/the-frustration-with-productivity-culture/ Skip to main content The New Yorker * Newsletter To revisit this article, select My Account, then Close Alert Sign In Search * News * Books & Culture * Fiction & Poetry * Humor & Cartoons * Magazine * Puzzles & Games * Video * Podcasts * Archive * Goings On * Shop Open Navigation Menu To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories Close Alert The New Yorker More Office Space * Why Remote Work Is So Hard * The Personal-Productivity Trap * Was E-mail a Mistake? * Slack Is the Wrong Way to Work Office Space The Frustration with Productivity Culture Why we're so tired of optimizing our work lives, and what we should do about it. [cal_newpor] By Cal Newport September 13, 2021 * * * * * Save this story for later. A disassembled computer keyboard and other hardware are laid out on a white background. Among knowledge workers, there's a growing distaste for the language of productivity and optimization.Photograph from Getty * * * * * Save this story for later. Early in the pandemic, I received an e-mail from a reader who embraced my writing about the importance of deep work and the need to minimize distractions, but was thrown by my use of the term "productivity" to describe these efforts: "The productivity language is an impediment for me." Intrigued, I posted a short essay on my Web site that reacted to her message, proposing that the term "productive" could be salvaged if we define it more carefully. There were, I wrote, positive aspects to the idea of productivity. For example, by better organizing administrative tasks that cannot be ignored--paying taxes, filing forms--you can reduce how much time you spend on such drudgery. On a larger scale, the structured "productive" pursuit of important projects, far from being soulless, can be an important source of meaning. My readers didn't buy my defense. The comments were filled with a growing distaste for the many implications and exhortations that had become associated with productivity culture. "The productivity terminology encodes not only getting things done, but doing them at all costs," one reader wrote. Another commenter pushed back against the proliferation of early-pandemic business articles that encouraged workers to stay "productive" even as they were thrown unexpectedly into remote environments: "The true message behind these posts is clear: ignore your growing sense of existential dread, ignore your children, and produce value for our shareholders--or else!" Others advocated for alternative terms, such as "alive time," or "productive creativity"--anything to cleave the relationship between "productivity" the signifier and all that it had come to signify. [cal_newpor] Cal Newport is a contributing writer for The New Yorker and an associate professor of computer science at Georgetown University. More:ProductivityKnowledgeWorkManagementTechnology The New Yorker Recommends What our staff is reading, watching, and listening to each week. Enter your e-mail address [ ] Sign up By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. The New Yorker Sections * News * Books & Culture * Fiction & Poetry * Humor & Cartoons * Magazine * Crossword * Video * Podcasts * Archive * Goings On More * Customer Care * Shop The New Yorker * Buy Covers and Cartoons * Conde Nast Store * Digital Access * Newsletters * Jigsaw Puzzle * RSS * Site Map * About * Careers * Contact * F.A.Q. * Media Kit * Press * Accessibility Help * Conde Nast Spotlight (c) 2021 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. Ad Choices * * * * * Do Not Sell My Personal Info