Stop Trying To Be More Productive

Before we dive in, I have a quick request. Today is my birthday – I'm turning 29. If you've been following me for a while, it would be amazing if you supported my work for $1 per month on Patreon because you get so much awesome value from my content (that's only $12 per year – the price of one margarita!).

You can think of it as a birthday present 😄!

If you don't want to support, it's no big deal – I'll keep producing writing, podcasts, music, and art to help you live on purpose and die without regrets.

If you are interested, though, you can support me here for less than the price of a bottle of water: https://www.patreon.com/chris_fritz

You’re Not A Machine

My best friend recently sent me a string of texts about how stars function. I replied by asking him about the difference between planets and stars, and about how hydrogen even came to exist in the first place.

We chatted for a while, nerding out about the stuff we’ve each been studying about the Universe, philosophy, and existence.

Stuff like:

Humans have killed each other for centuries over “resources” that are essentially just cosmic garbage ejected from ancient stars
Everything that exists is finite, and human life is comically short in comparison to the “lifespan” of the Universe
Humanity, even as a collective, has control over nearly nothing in the Universe, including when our planet will get hit by a meteor or when our Sun will explode
According to some theories, the Universe may eventually grow too large to sustain its own weight, and thus collapse back on itself, erasing all of cosmic history, which begs the question: Does anything even matter?

After we talked for a while, he told me he felt bad for wasting his time studying the Universe instead of being “productive”:

“I‘ve been having a strong emotional [conflict about] the fact that this is both profound information and useless to daily life.

We live in a world where I can attend a random class at a [community] college and learn such a profound lesson about the universe.

I’m studying things that people have [dedicated] their lives to [learning] . . . for thousands of years.

And [the] lesson is useless for daily life beyond inspiring my imagination and reminding me that life is short.” — A text from my friend, paraphrased

One of the most popular criticisms against modern education is that it wastes time and resources by giving students knowledge that they can’t — or won’t — apply directly toward an entry-level role in their desired field.

The argument suggests that the purpose of education is to train people for specific jobs: not to develop “well-rounded” individuals.

This rhetoric fits nicely into our consumerist modern society, which values specialists because they can work together to efficiently churn out stuff and experiences. Capitalists can then sell the produce for maximum profit.

Specialists command high premiums in exchange for all the time they spend honing their skills before entering the workforce.

This means their skills make them not only efficient producers but also big earners — a win-win situation for the capitalists, who make money whether people spend their money or hoard it in asset portfolios.

That’s not all, though.

There’s one more way that capitalists benefit from an abundance of specialists:

A large supply of specialists lowers the prices of their labor.

What capitalist wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to reduce wages?

Of course, it takes a lot of time to train productive specialists. There’s one surefire way to speed up the process, though: stop teaching them stuff they won’t use for their job.

After all, if you’re building a blade for a blender, you don’t need to make it long or sturdy enough to cut rope or carve a pumpkin — it just needs to be able to make margaritas for the company party.

Here’s the problem: humans aren’t f*cking machine parts.

We feel peace, and fear, and joy, and pain. We daydream. We wonder about the world around us.

Most importantly, we have only a short time in the Universe to create ourselves before we die.

Are we really demanding too much by asking our Corporate Overlords to let us look at the stars?

Food For Thought

“You should rather suppose that those are involved in worthwhile duties who wish to have daily as their closest friends Zeno, Pythagoras, Democritus and all the other high priests of liberal studies, and Aristotle and Theophrastus.

None of these will be too busy to see you, none of these will not send his visitor away happier and more devoted to himself, none of these will allow anyone to depart empty-handed.

They are at home to all mortals by night and by day.

None of these will force you to die, but all will teach you how to die.

None of them will exhaust your years, but each will contribute his years to yours.

With none of these will conversation be dangerous, or his friendship fatal, or attendance on him expensive.

From them you can take whatever you wish: it will not be their fault if you do not take your fill from them.

What happiness, what a fine old age awaits the man who has made himself a client of these!” ― Seneca, On the Shortness of Life

Life Is For The Living

On December 27, 2018, I worked the last shift of my corporate career. To be fair, I’d only lasted eight months before realizing that corporate life wasn’t for me.

I had no jobs lined up and no plan, but I knew I’d rather be poor and do stuff I love than get rich from doing sh*t I hate, only to end up dying before I’d ever lived.

I realized that the “freedom” a career provides isn’t freedom at all. It’s 40+ hours of bullshit every week where you’re trapped in a box doing stuff you don’t enjoy to pay for stuff you don’t want so you can impress people you don’t like.

Oh yeah, then there are phone calls and emails after work, a shitty commute, and a f*cking dress code (because everyone knows you can’t type as fast with a hat on).

And that’s if you have a “good” job.

It only gets worse if you have a bad one.

Then, of course, there’s always the chance that your highly specialized ass might get laid off in the next recession after you just outbid BlackRock for a 4-bedroom house in the suburbs.

I like to call this dynamic This Shit™.

And what do we trade away to participate in This Shit™ while we slowly die?

Our time that we could be using to pursue our passions and connect with our loved ones — instead, we spend it at work
Our resources that we could be using to support a simpler way of life — instead, we spend them on appearances to remain competitive in the corporate world
Our health that we could be using to move our bodies through a world full of fresh air and sunlight— instead, we atrophy in air-conditioned boxes in the dark

If we have fat bank accounts but zero control over how we spend our time, is that really freedom?

Is This Shit™ really progress, or are we turning into cavemen, chained to our desks and living inside of a digital world?

Productivity Is Overrated

If our ancestors had never taken a break from the “productive” activities of hunting and foraging, our world would be fundamentally different, because it’s the “unproductive” activities of exploring and talking about the Universe and our place in it that have driven all human progress.

By casting their eyes outward upon the stars and inward upon their souls, our ancestors invented stuff like human rights, democracy, mathematics, biology, vaccines, and yes, even capitalism.

Even harnessing fire was probably the result of an accident, or maybe of someone messing around in their free time.

So what’s better: being productive, or doing what you want?

Honestly, I don’t know.

However, I don’t think you should feel guilty for reading philosophy, studying astronomy, or learning about the behaviors of giant squid — even if the knowledge doesn’t make you a better accountant.

Fuck This Shit™.

Do what makes you a happier human.

Namaste.

Announcements

Coffee Chat: This Saturday, I'm hosting a coffee chat for Patrons in the Discord. If you're supporting me on Patreon, come hang out with the community!
Book Club: April's Patreon Book Club selection is The Republic by Plato. Read along and discuss with us on Patreon.
Merch Discount: Until March 31, take 20% off all merch in the Philosophy collection of The Strange Bazaar
Spotify Playlist: I just dropped Lofi Geek, a themed Spotify playlist featuring Lofi tracks from video games, anime, and fantasy

3 Ways I Can Help You

If you want to master your mind, manifest your power, and create your ideal self, there are three ways I can help you do that:

If you enjoy my writing, you can subscribe to my newsletter (that's what you're reading right now!)
If you're interested in philosophy and spirituality, self-improvement, and online business, you can join my Discord to chat with me directly and connect with people who share your interests
If you're a creator (writer, podcaster, YouTuber, musician, artist, etc.), and you want help getting started, building an audience, or monetizing your passion, you can schedule a FREE coaching call with me

Helpful Links

Hey, I'm Chris

birthday post - you're not a machine 🤖