The Cult of Productivity | #33

The Cult of Productivity

No. 33— read time 3 minutes

Welcome to The Soloist, a weekly newsletter where I share timeless ideas and insights about life, business, and creativity.

Today at a glance

• The Cult of Productivity

• Article: Secrets Of The Creative Brain

• Tweet: Khe Hy Guide on Self Love

The Cult of Productivity

The other week I found myself at rooftop bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a familiar place for me as I'd spent a decade in New York City and almost half that time in Williamsburg.

Between drinks and photos of the gradient orange-pink sunset over the Gotham skyline, a coterie of established and aspiring creators shared their own brand of the hero's story with one another. One by one we relayed to each other how we came to the conclusion to toss aside a perfectly fine career and begin a path of self-exploration, creative pursuits, and time off the treadmill.

A common theme emerged. Most, maybe all, were knowledge workers first. Many had entered the upper echelon of the economy (tech, finance, law) and several had advanced degrees from respectable universities.

All had reached a breaking point. Burnout.

What is Burnout

Burnout is defined as a manifestation of chronic unmitigated stress.

It is a point of mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion. It close to, if not outright, depression. And its impact is insidious.

Intense burnout can lead to loss of appetite, insomnia, and even suicidal tendencies.

The Only Way Out Is Rest

In the mid 90's, neuroscientists discovered a part of the brain that was previously thought to be dormant during periods of rest. Instead their discovery led them to the realization that during periods of rest, this region of the brain started to light up showing activity, not complete stillness. What was going on here?

They dubbed this region the Default Mode Network (DMN.

Around the same time a brain researcher wanted to understand the neurological origins of creativity. If "creativity" is a thing that can be observed and measured, where is it? How do we know it exists?

Using positron emission tomography (PET) scans, Dr. Andreasen discovered what she coined Resting Episodic Silent Thought. Periods of inactivity were the most creative, i.e. "Eureka Moments".

If you listen to some of the most creative people, they often recount that they had a flash of genius during periods of doing nothing.

Life Is More Than A To-Do List

I asked my audience on Twitter a simple question and the answers were incredible.

If you have a moment read through some of them. A few of my favorites include:

• It doesn’t seem to matter how much I actually get done as long as I am frantically working hard

• Yeah and how much money I make …its not healthy.

• There is a certain amount of satisfaction that comes from getting things done for sure. But tying our self-worth to that is a crazy thing to do. Then there is the fact that one could finish a thousand things & 800 could be meaningless and not move any needle that matters.

The never ending treadmill of "get stuff done" is a complex topic I'll likely dig into more in future newsletters and essays.

But for today, I challenge you to pause and think about your relationship to productivity. Do you have a constant thirst for new frameworks and software that promises to squeeze every last bit of efficiency and productivity from the day? Is this healthy?

Is rest and sufficient periods of leisure programmed into your routine? If not, why not?

One of my favorite quotes on this topic comes from Amos Tversky, the late collaborator of Nobel-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman, who once said:

Till next week,

-Tom

Article: Secrets of the Creative Brain

This article goes deeper on Dr. Andreasen’s work and is an excellent primer on the REST section of the brain and its relationship with creativity.

Read the post

Tweet: Khe Hy Guide on Self Love

Khe was one of the organizers of the meetup I reference above. He’s been writing about the relationship between self-worth and work for a while. He just releases a guide for finding self-love specifically geared towards strivers and high achievers. I recommend it:

P.S. Whenever you're ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:

1. If you save a lot of bookmarks on Twitter (like me), try dewey. —
   the easiest way to organize Twitter bookmarks.

2. If you're looking for coaching on either business growth, audience growth, or transitioning to a solopreneur path, you can book a slot here.

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