The Future of Productivity : Out with hustle culture!
Productivity experts turn their backs on hustle culture and promote slow productivity
The winds have changed in the productivity sphere. Experts turn their backs on hustle culture. We’ve come to a new era of productivity!
Here is what the future will look like :
Productivity that feels good
In his debut self-help book, YouTuber Ali Abdaal urges us to reconsider productivity for productivity’s sake. It should, he says, feel good.
According to Abdaal, the key to sustained productivity on the long run is to find ways to prioritize energy, remove your blocks and eliminate the sources of burnout.
The result, he says, is “An approach that focused on my wellbeing first, and used that wellbeing to drive my focus and motivation second. An approach I would come to refer to as feel-good productivity.”
I find it interesting that productivity experts now focus on the well-being side of things, compared to the ultra-focus and hustle peddled to us by countless experts in the first decades of the 2000s.
Ali is in the younger generation of these experts and got fed up with the hustle concept while starting a medical professional career. He decided to go the pathless path and craft a life that he loves.
I particularly enjoyed the last section of the book about misalignment burnout. Sometimes we’re working sensibly, but something still feels off. We’re climbing the ladder with purpose, only we’re on the wrong ladder. And that’s what’s burning us out.
The book makes compelling points on the power of rest, fun and play, and ended up being a very enjoyable read.
You can check out Feel-Good Productivity to learn more on Ali’s breakup with hustle HERE.
Slow productivity
After urging us to deep work, to break up with email and our digital devices, author and professor Cal Newport wants us to embrace Slow Productivity.
In his new book, to be released in March, Newport wants us to move away from burnout, while still producing quality work. From the book blurb :
Our current definition of “productivity” is broken. It pushes us to treat busyness as a proxy for useful effort, leading to impossibly lengthy task lists and ceaseless meetings. We’re overwhelmed by all we have to do and on the edge of burnout, left to decide between giving into soul-sapping hustle culture or rejecting ambition altogether. But are these really our only choices?
To pursue meaningful accomplishment, sustained in time, slow is the way to go.
You can read the article where originated his concept in the New Yorker.
I am amongst the supporters of his work who have preordered the book as I predicted that it was going to be one of the most hyped releases of 2024. Preorders always benefit the authors directly and ensure that the book will be discovered by more enthusiasts just like you. You can get your copy HERE.
Elsewhere on Substack
Last week, Readwise promoted this article in their excellent newsletter about the most highlighted content on the web :
Fellow Substacker Kristen Powers says no to productivity culture :
I think it’s an interesting trend as a whole, to see authors from all walks of life agreeing on this one thing. The culture has become toxic. And we can change it.
Encouraging authors, YouTubers, and creators who have decided to leave behind the hustle and promote healthy ways of approaching our work is the way to start.
What do you think of this new trend?
Have you seen other creators take a similar stand? Who is worthy to follow?
Please share in the comments below.