Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Ali Hale from Aliventures.
I‘m a woman, and I care about productivity. So today I want to start reaching towards some answers to the question Charlie posted in What If Women Cared About Productivity? (You might like to read or re-read that post – it’s from December 2008 – so you know where I’m coming from here.)
Perhaps I’m not the best person to address this issue. I’ve never been especially girly. Over the years, I’ve had more male friends than female ones. I hate buying shoes. I live in jeans and t-shirts. I listen to thrash metal. I enjoy roleplaying games and computer games. I make my money in a bloke-dominated area: websites, blogging and ebooks.
I can’t give you the definitive female view on productivity, any more than Charlie can speak for every man on the planet. I can, however, try to give it as I see it, and explain where the current trends in productivity-advice fall short.
Macho Productivity
There’s a certain strand of productivity which is unmistakably macho. It reeks of sweat and testosterone. It looks a bit like this:
Today (Friday) is a perfect day to “embrace the suck,” because most people will be moaning “Oh, I’m so glad it’s the weekend and I can finally stop working” (or, for the 7-day-a-week-ers, “Oh, man, don’t I ever get a day off?”). Don’t complain. You are stronger than that, damn it. Embrace the suck, do it anyway, and bask in the fact that you are, as I said, an a$$-kicker like no other.
(Dave Navarro, Embrace The Suck: How To Hate What You Do And Love It, Rock Your Day)
or like this:
To want it more means to do more. To work harder and to be prepared to do whatever it takes to get what you want. It’s one thing to say you want to retire at age 50, or you want to run a 10K race in less than an hour. But what are you really willing to do to make this happen? How badly do you really want it?
(Alex Blackwell, How to Crack the Code to Your Life, Pick the Brain)
I’ve quoted two guys here who are very human, warm, gentle people. This is the non-extreme end of the macho spectrum.
I can see the attraction here: it’s about giving yourself the energy to power on through when things are tough. But in general, I think there’s something wrong if life is like that on anything approaching a regular basis. I feel a bit dismayed every time I read someone writing about how freaking hard they’re going to work, how little sleep they’re getting, how many hours they’re putting in. Are they really happy? Or are they just taking a grim pride in being stronger, harder and tougher than the other bloke?
All too often, it seems like kids and wives become just another item on the to-do list (and it is often “wives” in the productivity genre – I’d prefer the word “partner”, to avoid assuming that everyone’s male, heterosexual and married…) Okay, it’s better to have “family time” scheduled in the calendar or “play with kids” on the to-do list than to let that bit of your life fade out altogether – but there’s something awry about needing to treat people as yet another task.
The macho element also comes in when we start to see productivity as a race or a competition – with winners and losers. We tend to see men as being more competitive and women as more co-operative. Productivity often seems to mean being more profitable, more interesting, more relevant, more useful than other businesses … or about working harder and longer than your colleagues, or earning more money than your friends.
Isn’t there room for a model of productivity where, as friends, as coaches, as cheerleaders and encouragers, we use our time to the greatest effect, empowering others to do their best work?
Start Thinking Outcome, Not Output
Charlie wrote, perceptively, that there’s a male preoccupation with numbers and stats and metrics and things which can be counted:
Let’s be real here: males in our society get wrapped up around the countable things in life. Money, time, “contacts,” cars, women – if it’s countable, we’ll add it to the list of other things we have that are countable. (What If Women Cared About Productivity?)
Of course women do this too (I can get quite obsessed with word counts, as you’ll know if you follow me on Twitter) but I think that we inherently see “countable” things as being rather shallow. So many things in life just cannot be measured. Happiness can’t be measured or counted (shh, utilitarians…)
And when it comes to “contacts” … that just makes me shudder. Turning people into numbers inevitably de-humanises them. I have friends who I love to chat to on Twitter or Facebook, and I’m always happy when people find me through my blogging – but investing any sort of self-worth in these numbers is, frankly, a bit embarrassing.
Measuring your productivity by the number of novels or paintings or blog posts you produce is a mistake. I’m a writer. I could sit here all day typing and churn out thousands of words. They’d be crap and unpublishable. Is that productive?
The output you produce doesn’t matter. The outcome does.
Bigger Picture Productivity
“Productivity” has become focused on Getting Things Done, hacks to make using technology more efficient, and has resulted in a host of sites dedicated to coming up with [Absurd number]+[Ways to]+[Save time]+[by doing something you haven’t thought about doing]. It’s old, and frankly, there are better things to talk about. (What If Women Cared About Productivity?)
When I started reading Dumb Little Man (which, despite the name, is read by plenty of women!) there were quite a few articles like this, along the lines of “20 Ways to Make Firefox Even More Amazing”.
I don’t need to make Firefox more amazing. “Saving” ten minutes a day isn’t really going to make a difference to my life. This approach to productivity is a bit like saying that if you eat one cookie less per day, you’ll lose 10lbs in a year. It might be true, but that doesn’t make it especially useful.
When I write about productivity, I try to take a different angle: partly because I’m still trying to break my thoughts away from the masculine model of productivity. I’ve written before about the dangers of productivity – especially when we start doing for doing’s sake, and we forget to be.
I’d like to see productivity come out of the factory-office mindset and into the modern world. I’d like to see us stop thinking about how many widgets we’ve cranked today, or how many emails we’ve processed, or how many business cards we’ve collected. I’d like to see us addressing the bigger picture, asking questions like:
- Why doesn’t my happiness seem to matter?
- Why do I keep over-committing myself?
- How many big goals can I realistically and sanely accomplish this year?
- What do I want more of in my life?
- Where can I recover big chunks of time by ignoring expectations?
These aren’t gendered issues. These relate to the big picture of all our lives. After all, we can get macho and masochistic about how many hours a week we work, how many products we ship, how many clients we send holiday greetings to … but is that really what we’re here for?
There is a huge amount more to be said about women and productivity, about how we need to lift productivity beyond the factory/office and into a more holistic view of who we are and who we want to be. I’d love to see this discussion extended not just into the comments but on other blogs, too.
Your turn: What if women cared about productivity? What then?
Wow, Ali. You’ve outdone even your last guest post.
A large part of my work has been about making meaningful action less gendered and less – well, masculine.
I think you’ll dig some of the stuff I’ll be rolling out over the next 6-8 weeks. I hope you will, at least; you’re one of the people I write for.
Thank you for sharing this conversation here, and I can speak for everyone when I say that you are changing the nature of the conversations about productivity – for the better. Keep at it! (Not like I’d let you let up. ;p)
Thanks Charlie! And yep, I think one of the reasons that I love PF is because it’s *not* testosterone-soaked…
I know I’ll dig it, cos I always do. 😉
And yeah, I’ll keep at it. You’ve got permission to prod me if I go quiet for too long…!
You go girl!
(Sorry I couldn’t help it.)
I totally agree – I loved reading Charlie’s original post and you really brought your womanly insights to the conversation Ali.
I actually took the stance to find more balance in my life, so I can enjoy my relationships and really have an enjoyable life experience… aka be happy.
Honestly I think it boils down to being really clear about your boundaries, what you want to focus on and what work you want to take on as opposed to not.
Great conversation post. I’m looking forward to reading the other comments too. 🙂
Thanks Nathalie! Great point about boundaries — something I think I can still be a bit hazy on.
I love “enjoyable life experience” as a synonym for happiness … makes it sound more official. 😉
Wow Ali! Great stuff and I think I was thinking a lot of these things without realising it! Sometimes in the blogosphere I get a little tired of the macho approach …blog till your eyeballs bleed, work 20 hour days etc etc. Yes, sometimes there is some good advice and of course to achieve anything worthwhile we need to work at it, but as you point out there is another way. I sometimes wonder if we are swapping one rat race (“9-5”) for another when we get so caught up in being super productive. Thanks Ali!
Jen
Thanks Jen! And as a blog reader, I love it when someone (usually Charlie…) manages to put into words what I was vaguely thinking, so I’m glad I could be that person for you.
I’ve no regrets about leaving the 9-5, but I do sometimes miss that Friday feeling of coming home at 6pm and being *completely free* from work!
I hereby christen you my favorite guest poster ever. Alongside all my other favorite guest posters. 😉
Seriously AWESOME subject matter. I’ve gotten far more comfortable with the idea that I don’t have to “do productivity” from a macho perspective, but that my ability to organize and plan and accomplish things comes from who I am as a whole (and not just that I’m female).
Looking forward to more great stuff from you!
Thanks, Rachael – do I get a badge? 😉
I think the masculine perspective can often end up very detail-focused and sometimes misses the bigger picture.
I hope to have more great stuff for you soon… 🙂
In my mind, you DO have a badge. A shiny one that says AWESOME on it. 😉
You know what’s funny-ironic about the masculine perspective (details) versus a bigger picture perspective? I already function naturally from a big picture place, and have forced myself in many areas to become good at being detailed (assuming, subconsciously, that my way of seeing things was wrong-headed). It makes sense to me to find balance between the two instead, and I’m relieved to know that I don’t have to continue stuffing myself into a box that doesn’t fit me.
A big “YES” to the big picture stuff.
For years I assumed that my fiction drafting process was wonky and broken because I write fast then rewrite totally (whole scenes/characters/subplots come and go) … and then in my writing group this term I found out that lots of people do that.
The problem with a lot of “traditional” productivity advice is that it presupposes that you have specific (masculine??) problems … and so it doesn’t always fit.
Interesting and unique train of thought going on here in both articles.
I’ve functioned as a single mother much of my adult life, and was raised with highly “feminist” influences. This article is timely for me in that I am currently looking inward to try to understand why I have a tendency to take on some more masculine roles. I recognize the social aspects of my life have been less than traditionally feminine and I’ve been, in many ways, too focused on this pseudo-productivity…the kind that doesn’t allow for unmeasurables to “count.”
For myself, I’m trying to redefine productivity with more balance. Strong friendships and socializing ARE productive activities, as are all the other things that are important to me, measurable or not. It’s all about happiness, balance and having a well-rounded life.
Cheers Jennie. That’s really interesting to get your take on this — I was raised in a family with quite traditional gender roles (not on purpose, exactly, it was just how things worked out for my parents). I think I can sometimes react against that and take on a more “macho” style of doing things. I’m very competitive, for instance…
I agree with you about friendships and socialising – even though I often have to firmly remind myself that coffee dates with a friend ARE important because she helps me keep my head screwed on right!
That’s one of the greatest things about the blogging/personal development world. It’s not an industry based on competition – like trying to be the most profitable investment firm or the car dealership with the most sales.
Instead it’s all about collaboration and cooperation.
There is no “winner” – all of us are trying to build each other up and create success for everyone. I’m constantly amazed at how the “A-listers” are willing to engage with people at any level and give advice and encouragement.
Thanks for all you guys do!
Thanks Mike! I love the fact that this world is a co-operative one … it suits me much better than “traditional” business.
(I can be scarily competitive, but I’d rather keep that for games, not biz.)
Thanks for reading and commenting, it really means a lot!
Partly inspired by Charlie’s post on women and productivity, I mused about this a bit on my own blog. I’ve written two parts of what will probably be a longer series which I called, “Why is Ma Ingalls Happier than You?” One of the ideas I explore here is the notion of ‘productivity’ itself. I take Csikszentmihalyi’s definitions of ‘productivity’ and ‘maintenance’ and how these relate to the work that women do and how satisfied they feel.
It’s a bit of a philosophical discussion, but I hope it has some practical applications.
Liz, I’ve just done a Google and found the series and really liked it. I’m not a mother yet but my fiance and I are hoping to have kids in a few years’ time … and I have to admit that (after doing a lot of babysitting, childminding etc) a part of me is quite worried about becoming a mother!
I found the “productivity” vs “maintenance” distinction really useful. I find housework really frustrating because however many times I wash up and however well I do it, it’ll still need doing the next day! And I’d rather write than clean. 😉
This is one of the best posts I’ve read on this subjects in a long, long time.
I find that even though I’ve been at odds with the Cult of Productivity for quite a while, it’s scouts and informants seem to creep back in, sending me subliminal messages of the need to count, quantify and turn very human activities into factory-like quotas.
It definitely takes time to break that pattern.
In some ways, I am all about hustling, powering through and harnessing lightning-storm energy to break through stuck. But as you said, if that’s the norm, something is wrong. When we come from a place of intrinsic motivation, and focus on our feelings first (instead of waiting for the feeling from the effect), then we can find flow. I think after a certain point, productivity starts to become irrelevant. Sure, we may be massively product or provides tons of value to our community, ourselves and our families. But it’s not because we’ve scheduled it on a list or filled in a bunch of check-boxes; it’s simply a result of following our natural rhythms.
Thanks for the reminder Ali. I would love to see you write more about this.
Jonathan, thanks! I generally like your anti-cult attitudes (I know we didn’t quite see eye to eye about obsession, but you definitely got me thinking).
I’d like to write more about this: it was one of those posts where I felt like I’d barely scratched the surface. And if you’re at SXSW, perhaps we’ll get a chance to continue the conversation there too… 🙂
Wow. This is a fantastic post, not just because you have so much to say, but because it has me thinking about my responses.
I have subscribed to that work hard ethic for awhile and while it has paid off in some respects it leads to a VERY unbalanced lifestyle.
I am a mom of 4 kids, so on top of the normal work-life balance I’m also balancing the whole mom act. As I stay at home with my kids work is squeezed into the cracks between meals and during quiet playtimes.
I have so much swirling around in my head, I may have to write a lengthy post on this topic!
Kelly, thanks! I can’t imagine having 4 kids (you’re superwoman to me!) and I can imagine that must throw up a lot of challenges.
Would love to see your post or response to this, keep us updated!
I’m not sure if I see this as a masculine-feminine divide, but I definitely see this polarity in writing about productivity. There are tip-, hack- and gadget-oriented approaches, and there are approaches that are more about the somewhat ineffable aspects that you discuss here. Like you, I lean more towards a quality not quantity approach, and believe that many of the most valuable outcomes can’t be easily measured.
Thekla, I’m not 100% sure that it’s really a masculine-feminine issue either (though I think that’s perhaps a useful shorthand for framing the differences).
I’ll do some more thinking about all this. It seems like there’s a lot to be said, and a lot of depth here.
Thanks for an inspiring post and subsequent discussion! Though you say in a comment, Ali, that you’re very competitive, my thought for some years now is that we’re moving towards a cooperative capitalism, and away from a competitive one. And the trend has everything to do with our burgeoning respect for the feminine. At last, at long last!
Hey Ali and Charlie,
You know it’s funny, I just recently read another post on Jonathan Fields’ blog that talked about some differences between men and women as well.
I think that you nailed it early on – I don’t think the distinction is so much man vs woman is it quantifying versus not quantifying. Productivity, for me, is all about numbers and results – very cold, analytical things. How many pages did I write, how much code did I write, did I finish x, how much time did I spend on y, etc.
I know that that’s kind of the whole point of the post – why do such small things even matter? That’s just the way I see it though – I think that those small changes do make a difference for me.
I think that saving 10 minutes with a Firefox extension when you’re wasting 2 hours watching TV is clearly ridiculous, but I do think there is value in reviewing your productivity. For myself, for example, finding ways to save a few hours a week is huge – that becomes time I can spend practicing guitar, or working out, or eating meals with my family. So in the end, these cold, analytical productivity approaches can circle back and provide value in ways that are best superficially quantified (hours spent with family – doesn’t really capture the value of the time spent with them)
Really interesting post and comments 😉
Sid, I’ve always liked the rigour of your approach to productivity, especially your willingness to spend money to save time (your explanation of how paying $60 for meals saved you 10 hours a week has always stuck with me).
I definitely don’t think there’s anything *wrong* with quantifying results – it’s very motivating to measure change – but when it becomes about the numbers not about the actual benefits, something’s become skewed.
You both deserve oodles and oodles of credit for so consistently resisting essentialism while talking about gender. Thank you!
I feel like one of the big challenges brought about by second-wave feminism — and I say this as a completely committed feminist myself! — is that it offered women an opportunity to move out of the home and into professions, but without coming up with any real alternatives about who would do the household and child-raising labor they were primarily responsible for.
So I think one thing that could happen if women started caring about productivity is that men could start caring about the kinds of emotional work typically relegated to those women, and I think this would be good for everyone. (You can’t solve the gender issues that lock women into childcare unless you can solve the ones that lock men into breadwinnning.)
I also see a few women now — Jen Louden, Havi Brooks, Hiro Boga, Barbara Sher — championing a non-macho way of getting things done that focuses on overcoming emotional obstacles. I’m pretty sure that there are people of the male persuasion who have those, and seeing that work become more mainstream seems like another potential outcome. (Interesting middle case: Seth Godin knows about resistance, but wants you to power through it.)
Thanks Sarah!
Are we into third-wave feminism now? Post-feminism? (ugh, not keen on that) Whatever we call it, I think things are shifting. I’m 25, my fiance’s 26, and we’re both agreed that we’ll divvy up the home/child care … especially as we both envisage being in quite flexible careers. (I’m a writer, he’s hoping to be an academic/researcher.)
I think there’s a middle way to be found that merges the best of two approaches. I’m not there yet by any means, but I’ll keep working on it and writing about it…
Great post and so true. Early on in my corporate career, I focused more on being likable which resulted in more and more output mainly because I couldn’t say no to anyone for fear of not being liked. Others around me got promoted faster and I, although well liked, became more bitter.
Then I learned from my male colleagues to focus on producing results mainly showing how I’m increasing financial gain for the company. I also got much better at saying no and setting boundaries. Yes, people didn’t like it, or me in some cases, but I got promoted faster and I gained more influence in the company because I showed myself to be a producer. At the end of the day, those who get what they want in business or life, focus on results. If you don’t like the results you have, course correct until you do get what you want.
Thanks Stephanie.
I did a women’s-only personal development course in college and learnt that a lot of women fall into exactly the same trap you did: doing tons of work while others get the credit! I also learnt that I’m actually quite good at giving the impression that I want to give (people always think I’m more hardworking and organised than I actually am… ;-))
Saying “no” is a hugely important skill, and one which I and many women (and it’s a generalisation, but it does tend to be women) really have to work on.
Great stuff, Ali! So much of personal development and productivity is very left-brain-directed and masculine in that sense, focusing on doing and achieving, rather than being and feeling the way you want to feel.
That can be useful in corporate environments, but when it comes to creative entrepreneurship and our personal lives, I think we get better results when we take a more “feminine” approach of feeling our way through our significant decisions and our creative pursuits. I actually wrote about this on my blog today (some synchronicity!?) – about the idea of art-making instead of goal-setting, and shared a technique for creating focus, a clear intention and the feeling you want, rather than setting goals.
And, because Cath is too modest to link to her post, I’ll do it for her: The Good Things In Life Can’t Be Rushed… (or Making Art Instead of Setting Goals).
🙂
Ali,
After reading your guest post, my testosterone levels are way down and I broke out into a cold sweat….
I thank my lucky stars I have not locked horns with you in any competition, because I would be looking at the nearest exit.
As usual, you points are well-received, and you are right on the money.
For long, companies have valued the “macho macho man” (just like the song) approach to management: numbers, getting results, and action-orientation, among other things.
Women were treated like girlfriends or secretaries and their gifts were relegated to the fringes of society (domestic helper).
Many women in the corporate world have complained bitterly about not being taken seriously despite a Harvard MBA, years of work experience and professional accomplishments.
“We work twice as hard as any man and yet we are glossed over during promotions.”
If you are a woman CEO, chances are you have come across the “old boy’s club.”
Translation: boys will be boys and will bond best with other boys at the sports bar, strip club, and the golf lawns. Machismo!
Meaning: if you are a woman, you are not invited. How many times has this happened? Countless times is the answer.
And if you are excluded from such “masculine” past times, you are also excluded from informal conversations which can lead to economic opportunities.
Let us not under-estimate the power and influence of these informal conversations at to-dos and parties, which lead to projects and assignments.
“It’s not what you know, but who you know” that counts, as we have been told time and again.
However, as more qualified women enter the workplace, management scholars are starting to pay more attention to women and their roles/function in society.
For example, management literature now has tended to focus more on the role of intuition in the workplace, and “soft skills” training is emphasized in the workplace.
So many women now work shoulder to shoulder with men that they can no longer be ignored.
The workplace has not yet reached utopia, but it is “better” than before.
That’s good news especially for women.
Cheers!
I agree that there’s still some way to go, though I never made it far enough in the corporate world to hit the “glass ceiling”…
It’s not just traditional business though. If you’ve not read James Chartrand’s story about being taken more seriously under a man’s name, go check it out here: http://www.copyblogger.com/james-chartrand-underpants/
That one was a real shock to me, as a fellow freelance writer. I’ll be interested, as I get further up in the blogosphere, to see how it looks from a female perspective… there are some really well known female bloggers (Gina Trapani, Penelope Trunk, etc) but I wonder if they come in for more criticism than the male ones?
This post has really made me think.
I don’t believe in coincidences in life and I believe I stumble upon certain conversations, blogs or posts when I do for a reason.
I starteed blogging because I wanted more from life. I wanted to do something that mattered instead of just doing my job and taking care of my house and kids. (I have 5 kids and work part time as an ER nurse)
I think that the biggest problem many of us-men and women-end up having is how to do something important and fulfilling with their life without overextending themselves and still being able to make a living.
I know for myself that if it was not for the fact that I needed the salary I would be doing something very different in my life.
I recently had considered the point about my happiness being important and since then I have taken steps to move me in the direction of a career that would be fulfilling as well as support me.
Good article. I enjoyed it very much and I am going to check out your site as well.
Thank you.
Susie, good luck finding a career that fulfills you. Having five kids and nursing sounds like it must take a hell of a lot of energy … good on you for managing it!
I think a lot of us get into blogging because we want something more. For me, the writing/sharing/learning process is hugely important.
Outcome, not output..Yeahh! Awesome post, thank you Ali!
Thanks Lana! I had “Productivity = OutCOME not OutPUT” on a bit of paper on my desk for ages, kept meaning to write this one. Glad it finally got done! 😉
Ali,
Thanks for providing your input.
I followed the link, yes, but I really did not need to: I was already in the loop.
When the story broke–and this was some time ago–it created a buzz. Excitement!
It was controversial: both pros and cons.
I remember some people getting upset too.
Actually, I am a fan of James Chartrand.
I have been reading Men With Pens for quite some time now, based on your recommendation.
So, I felt a sense of outrage when I read about what happened.
However, let’s not be naive: gender discrimination is alive and well in the workplace, but how about other kinds of discrimination? That should also be explored and written about–maybe?
Of course, the “glass ceiling” still exists.
Women have made strides, but they still have a long way to go.
“Others” also have a long way to go before the propaganda is seen, finally, for what it is. Thanks for your contribution. Cheers!
Hey Ali, my google alerts picked this post up, which is a great post. Only thing is that quote isn’t by me, it’s by Alex Blackwell.
I was reading the quote and thought to myself that I didn’t say it, so I had to click through to Pick the Brain to see if that was a post of mine.
The other thing that seemed bizarre was you calling me “who are very human, warm, gentle people,” which might not be the best way to describe me either 😉
Sorry about that, Alex. We’ve got it fixed now.
Eep! I have no idea what happened there — I knew it was Alex Blackwell (especially as I guest post for The Bridge Maker for him, too). Totally my mistake, must’ve read a tweet or something from you.
(So far, I’ve never been mixed up with any other Ali-bloggers but I’m sure it’ll happen…)
I’ve asked Charlie to change it – can’t edit the post myself.
Apologies again!
Enjoyed the discussion.
I recall once seeing a quotation–Andy Tobias’ sidebar, or StoryPeople, although both sources don’t claim authorship–about a young boy giving a report at school:
If you (do this productivity thing) regularly, you’ll save fifteen minutes a day, and at the end of the year, you’ll have an extra 3 1/2 days saved up!
OTOH, I did once calculate that a lifetime of flossing was less time than the recuperation period for open heart surgery (15 days vs. 3 months), so it really was better to floss.
Hehe, great story, Karen! Charlie’s written some awesome stuff about asking yourself what you’re actually “saving” time for — this one comes to mind: //productiveflourishing.com/why-are-you-trying-to-save-time/
Wow, ask and the Universe responds… in the person of you. Just as I am trying figure out what to do with the rest of my life (I’m 56) after putting 10 years into my Ph.D., I find your article.
With the end of the nightmare…er, degree insight, I started thinking about what I wanted. In the process, I discovered the Blogosphere in January and was getting caught up in the “need” to post everyday; to read one book a week; to subscribe to this, that, or the other “how to improve your blog/business/writing, w/e” course, when what I really want is to write and be read, and to meet other writers and readers.
Thank you so much, Ali, for both pointing out Charlie’s post and responding to it with this post.
I think I will pull back from all my grandiose plans and work on the two that are the most important to me: relationships and writing.
Thanks so much for coming and commenting — it’s always a bright moment for me when I learn that a post struck someone at the right time. 🙂
I think focusing on the two key things is the way to sanity and – ultimately – to productivity and success. I’ve been pretty ruthless this year in cutting down on goals and commitments, and it’s really paid off with my key goals (my writing — a novel and my blog).
Best of luck!
What a refreshing post! I recently unsubscribed from a lot of RSS feeds for precisely this reason: I had grown tired of the constant drumming of ways to improve productivity on other blogs. It almost felt suffocating; maybe even claustrophobic. Thank you, Ali, for this post and for reminding us all that it is high time that we take a step back and just… breathe.
Thanks Eric! Yes, I tend to find myself unsubscribing when blogs all seem to become lists of ways to tweak/hack/ninja-super-charge yourself. It’s a bit dehumanizing, somehow!
You are so right about the inclination towards posturing — and Charlie, about the numbers obsession.
It’s clearly a substitute for uncertainty. People hate uncertainty. I think men hate it more than women, on average, though women hate it much more in relationship issues.*
Me, I call the “macho” productivity approach “productivity porn” — at least, when it’s not also tempered by the psychological side, which Dave Navarro definitely does do.
Many who are into the productivity porn seem to see self-flagellation and self-denial as a good thing, but sadly the joke’s on them because that’ll lead straight to burnout.
IMO, the only true productivity increases come from accept yourself completely as a human being, and your screwups as natural. The more you guilt, the more you avoid, right?
I’d say “Women have an advantage there,” but I think women are even more into self-flagellation and guilt than men.*
Basically, we’re all screwed 😉
* OMG GROSS GENERALIZATION ALERT!
Cheers, Amy. Yeah, I know what you mean about “productivity porn” (maybe it’s “productivity for masochists”…)
I’ve never been a bloke, so can’t speak for how much they go in for self-flagellation and guilt. 😉 But I think you’re probably right and it’s common to most of us. I don’t think guilt-tripping helps anyone be more productive (at least, not in a healthy way).
Ali,
Another awesome, thoughtful piece from you…
Your post really got me wondering about your perspective — and then further, the feminine perspective — on pretty much everything I’m currently involved in: education, politics, business, urban development.
In my offline business (I own a bakery), I delight in working with women a lot more than men. I love the perspective designerettes bring to the table, prefer women architects, and have really enjoyed working with my female employees.
Something else I find fascinating is that men are naturally drawn to environments designed for women…
Once again, great piece!
Marin, thanks very much! I have plenty of views on education and politics. 😉 Of course, there aren’t really any definitive “female” or “male” views – but I do think there are more “feminine” and more “masculine” ways of approaching different areas.
I suspect we can all benefit by learning from and discussing with people who frame the world in a slightly different way (my brother and my fiancé are much more analytical/logical and much less emotional than me about political debate, for instance).
nice post. thanks.
Ali,
Thank you for the explorationof the productivity issue through the female lens. You articulated a number of things that have floated through my mind over the last year – yet with some additional insights. Thank you for the Food for Thought questions at the end – they are great anchors for choosing “what” to focus our productivity efforts around!
😉
Amy Miyamoto
Thanks Amy! Glad you found it useful. 🙂
This post actually ended up being the spark for a blog, which Thursday Bram and I started a couple of months back. You might enjoy it … http://www.constructivelyproductive.com
Nice Post. I never thought someone could write so much on productivity.
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Thanks for exploring the issue of productivity through the women’s lens. You have prepared many things through my mind during the past year – yet with some extra insights. Finally, thanks to the Food for Thought for the question – they are great anchors to choose “what” keeping in mind our productivity efforts!