The Myth of Toxic Productivity Culture

🎥 More about this video:
Productivity culture is all around us, and it's hard not to feel its pressure coming at us from every - whether it's from social media, our jobs, our family, or our friends. Toxic productivity culture in particular can lead us to feeling so "unproductive" - to the point of feeling guilty when we indulge in our favorite hobbies or relaxation. But should we be feeling so guilty?? Are we really that "unproductive"? Let's dissect the toxic myth of productivity culture and how it isn't all that it's cracked up to be (and actually how it's quite counterproductive).

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Time Stamps:

00:00 Let's talk productivity culture
03:20 The plague of "should"
04:27 Maximizing every moment
05:46 Toxic productivity in finances
06:21 Perfectionism meets comparison
08:32 Myth of productivity culture
11:40 Messy emotions
14:14 Productivity culture a good thing?

Keywords for some sweet, sweet metadata:
Personal finance, money management, productive, productivity, productivity culture, tips, budgeting, budget, video essay, video analysis, social media, investments, overconsumption, consumerism, 9-5 job, shopping, spending money, cara nicole

[thefinancialfreedomgirl]

Thanks to @nikejustdoit100 for this great video idea! ⭐If you have any money x media ideas or topics you'd like to see me cover, let me know in the comments!

Thanks for watching☺

[combatcarl]

While I think John Lennon was a hippy I do believe in his quote "time you enjoy wasting is not wasted" it doesn't hurt to stop and smell the flowers once in awhile. Making self improvements is important but what's the point if you never stop to take in the fruit of all of that labor?

[LoveAndSnapple]

If our ancestors could see us now (from whatever country they hail from) and see us panicking and stressing with all of the niceties and time-saving luxuries we have (washing machines, supermarkets, pre-built houses) they’d lose their minds.

Innovation and technological advancements were supposed to save us time and open the door for more leisure, as if we were living like the Jetsons. But it’s like we’re at an all you can eat buffet, and someone gave us a bigger plate where we can just pile on more food.

[lorescien]

I'm a stay at home mom and oh my LORD is there a massive push for constant productivity. If it's not playing with the kids, it's laundry or cleaning the bathrooms or doing dishes or changing the sheets... and then if I do something for myself I have to show proficiency in it. Like with my crochet... if I don't have a polished and delightfully perfectly made piece from hours of crocheting over a few days then I just 'spent an awful lot of time doing nothing.' (Actual quote from an in-law when I was freaking SELF TEACHING the craft itself, as if learning a skill is doing nothing.) I'm still working to let myself do nothing and I can't get further than watching a show or reading a book. Actually doing NOTHING is hard af.

[LaurenSophie]

My colleague asked me what my plans for the weekend were. I told I had no plans. I am going to read books and maybe go for a walk. Sometimes you just have to relax and do nothing. For me that's luxury!

[tev]

I feel like so much of productivity culture is about the AESTHETICS of being productive without really getting things done. Think about it, how many videos have you seen of people with perfectly organized desks with color-corresponding office supplies and perfectly formatted bullet journals? I feel that it's less about getting things done and more about looking good.

[iris]

Its such an insane pressure to always be improving, i became disabled in my mid twenties and have now reached the point that i can work parttime from home after years of not being able and a lot of the time i can only think but its a parttime job with no growth opportunities instead of being happy for my health i always feel im useless

[benedictt.]

Sometimes I think I spend too many hours in a work day distracted or just staring off. But I've found that I'm often more clear and concise in my emails, and detail oriented in my work than some of my colleagues who are jumping from one task to another. I get raves about how great I am for the team, but tbh, I feel as though I work for maybe 3-4 hours of the day.

[Hassan-GnB]

about a year ago I quit my job due to burn out. When I wasn't in a rush to get a new job everyone thought I lost my mind. I caught up on sleep, started eating better, took walks, overall just got healthier and found peace. What I observed was everyone around me had this sense of fear in them and was trying to pass it to me. I heard every doom and gloom scenario and that I wasn't hungry enough. I just had an optimism that I would be fine but kept hearing "lucky you, we all can't do that". Yet the same ppl who shamed me hated their jobs, relationships were in shambles, and were sacred about the future even with amazing jobs. Just fear and low self esteeming trying to make more fear and low self esteem. Typing this from the desk of my cushy part time job and had an job interview earlier this week. F it we ball.

[lunabun]

I like to look at my rabbits. They eat, they clean themselves, the hop around and explore.. but mostly they chill out. Have an afternoon snooze. They don't do anything productive - yet they are so loved and precious and deserve to exist and be happy. I don't really understand why humans are "not valued" by society if they just enjoy their spare time doing things they love/relaxing. We are not machines. Yes we need jobs, challenges and get things done.. but not 24/7.

[RTDoh]

You are 1 person, out of 7 billion people on one planet, out of 8 planets, orbiting 1 star, out of 300 billion stars in one galaxy, out of 200 billion to 2 trillion galaxies. We should just do ourselves and let those obsessed people learn the hard way that in the end it all means nothing.

[ambiarock]

I've worked with too many people who do obscenely long hours and they irritate me. I do not work in saving lives, so why overstress and stay 3 extra hours to check another box when you could just relax and do it tomorrow? People in workplaces need to chill

[WaveMaster]

On weekends I lay in bed, my dog next to me with his belly up, watch your videos and maybe read some and game some. And I feel great and unproductive. Productivity is overrated and it feels too much like "keeping up with the Joneses" sometimes instead of just focusing on ourselves and do what we feel like on a day to day basis
Another issue I see is the fact that worker productivity has gone way up over the past couple decades, due to technology. But the wages have not gone up accordingly. So we are being more productive, and profits shoot up but wages barely crawl up.

[kaylar]

One thing I notice is I become the most productive when I’m not trying to be productive. Like if something is important to me I’ll go out my way to do it without thinking meanwhile if it’s not important I’ll overthink situations and start to feel very behind and be like “I’ll do it later.” So I think best thing is to do what you genuinely want to do without expecting validation from others.

[JustAlex]

When I expressed concern about finishing my thesis on time, one of my committee members dismissively told me: "you could write a 200-page dissertation from scratch in 2 months if you worked 40 hours a week." The culture is nuts.
(Bonus: later, she was so slow to provide feedback on my 60-page thesis that I almost didn't finish on time. Morbidly hilarious.)

[mpgingdl]

I ditched "productivity" in 2017. One of the best decisions I ever made.

[LegendWolfA]

Im in college, so thank you so much for making this video - it will help me a lot, i am sure.

Sometimes I find myself asking, before I entered adult life - is life just all work? What's the point of having money if I cannot enjoy my life? And while yes, we need to work and make money, we also should sometimes stop and ask ourselves "what is this all for?". What is life if not to enjoy?

Im getting a bit philosophical here, so lets get back to topic. I love how you mentioned that productivity rises when we are unproductive, which seems funny but is true. I think of it like an engine - when it is well maintained and given sufficient time to cool down, its more effective than one that is constantly left overheated and its motor not taken care of.

And I believe that being creative and coming up with solutions is important in many fields, at least it is important in CSE, my major. And to be creative, your brain motors have to be well oiled - and that is achieved by having enough rest, being able to just let your mind "shut down" for a while instead of keeping it online all the time

Who should determine what makes a good life? Why is a productive life considered a good one?

[Dancinglemon]

One thing I’d like to add is that I see a lot of productivity culture, online especially, reference the super rich and try to emulate their lifestyles to get to the same end. Problem being, those lifestyles are often only functional for those who can afford them and a large amount of super rich people have generational wealth. We can aspire to the same results but without the same huge financial backing, you’re being fed a lie that says you can be like them if only you worked harder.

[angelica]

I've literally only been unemployed for over a week and I already feel lesser than despite having wonderful support system. I am trying to learn how to meditate so I can free myself from societal and internal expectations. Nice video!

[courtneymiszczak]

I have a demanding job and I’m a part time student, who also lives alone and pays all my bills. I have been so burnt out lately, but I have a friend that whenever we get together constantly states “we should do this, we should do that, there’s money to be made!”. It’s exhausting. I silenced her over the weekend so I could just reflect and not be constantly shamed for having any free time. I concluded that work and school are ENOUGH at this moment in my life. I should sleep and rest MORE!!!