In defense of Productivity Porn

Caleb Schoepp's post on Productivity Porn struck a cord with me. Its central argument is that social media, specifically the kind of content that tells you (or insinuates you should) that you need to "do X to become Y," is unhealthy. It creates a growing feeling of anxiety, loneliness, and distraction. It leads to the exaltation of the other, and it instills on the viewer that everyone is better and you're only ever playing catch-up. And if you're not actively trying to catch up, you're actively choosing failure.

And I 100% agree with this argument that it's bad. But it doesn't have to be.

Look, I doom-scroll just like everyone else. I spend idle moments watching beautiful people live their curated lives on Instagram. I like and retweet funny or informative things on Twitter. And I sometimes read those "7 things every successful manager should start doing right now" threads. I might even feel a pang of that anxiety creep in when I do it. But there's so much more out there!

Instead of looking for listicles about productivity, learn about a tool that might make you more productive.

Instead of watching 7 hours of YouTube content on the 19 Best Ways to Organize Your Life, watch a video on Getting Things Done. And Zettelkasten. And Bullet Journaling.

My point is, don't listen to what other people tell you is important, but do listen to them. Don't trust that some VC has all the answers on how to be an entrepreneur. Do they have experience and insight that you don't? Of course. But they are just one opinion of thousands... of millions. You have access to all of those different ideas and you should learn about them.

We have all of human knowledge around us at all times in 2022, and instead of only watching that one video of one physical trainer telling you how you should follow their steps to a better body, watch 5. Watch 10! But then you get to process that information and make your own decision. You don't even have to do anything. Just pursue the knowledge, and you will be better for it.

If you go out there seeking information, learning about other ideas and perspectives, and making yourself a more informed human being, that productivity porn can be very healthy. It all comes down to how you use it.