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The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Since World War II,productivity in the U.S. has doubled. So we should be working 20-hour work weeks, right?

Well, were not. Were working more. In fact, were working more than medieval peasants, and the 40-

hour work week hasnt changed since 1940even though productivity levels have been growing steadilysince then (and if youre involved in small business starting, then your situation has probably gotten

worse). Productivity simply isnt helping most people: its not making them happier or leading to more f ree

time.

The Productivity Industrial Complex

You and your company need to get things

done lots of things[.] You have invested

heavily in the human factor but are you

getting all the results from your people that

you could? Are they maximizing their output?

-The David Allen Company

Photo by Stewf

The Productivity Indust rial Complex is a marriage

between corporations and an entire industry of

productivity companies, gurus, consultants, and

solution-makers who help corporations squeeze

every ounce of productivity f rom their workers. Organizat ions like The David Allen Company, f or example,make the bulk of their income f rom corporat ions looking to maximize their employee output, and its no

surprise that they have a Fortune 500-studded client list which includes Lockheed Martin, Deloitte &

Touche, and the U.S. Department of Defense (see heref or more of his clients).

This manifesto is largely a response to the Productivity Industrial Complex. . .

Alternative Productivitys Tenet s

1. Productivity is an Industrial Era economics termthat applies to f actories, machines, and

economies. When applied to people it of ten has a dehumanizing ef f ect and negates both individual

dif f erences and unique talents.

2. If your productivity increases, but your pay stays t he same, then youre ef f ectively taking a pay cut

(same goes if you begin working longer hours f or t he same pay).

3. The 40-hour work week hasnt changed since 1940 and is ridiculously outdated.

4. If youre consist ently having trouble f ocusing, its often because youre focusing on the wrong things

(i.e. things youre not pass ionate about o r things that arent best suited to your skillset).

5. Increased productivity should equal less time on the job. If youre getting more done, you should get

more vacation time.

6. Mos t best-selling productivity gurus are working in the interest s of large corporations and of tenadvocate values and approaches that are not in the best interests of individuals.

7. Increased product ivity should result in greater caref ree time, more vacations, and more time away

f rom work. Mos t o f the time, however, it does no t.

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8. We are living in a time and place that is more productive than ever befo re, but high levels of

productivity arent making us any happier.

9. Productivity should be designed around our lives, not the other way around.

10. The workf orce is laboring f or more hours and f or less pay, taking fewer vacations, and generally

burning out .

11. The best way to increase productivity is of ten to quit a lot o f things.

12. Productivity of ten poses as the self -development genre but it is not . Self -development andproductivity are two very differentthings. What is best f or us as individuals is of ten bad fo r

productivity.

13. The societally scripted routes t o success via productivity are f ailing us.

14. Products marketed towards busy people(e.g. Productivity f or Busy People, Cooking for Busy

People, etc.) only serve to reinfo rce the problem and of ten glamorize, excuse, and support the

unnecessarily busy lif e and cult of hyperef f iciency.

15. Hacks, tweaks, tricks, etc. have emerged from a productivity hobbyistculture, are largely insuf f icient

at solving bigger lif e problems, and of ten do not increase productivity. These hacks etc. are vest iges

of the largely techie demographic of the early (but self -reinfo rcing) blogosphere.

16. Early to bed, early to rise does not necessarily lead to greater productivity. Contrary to several blog

posts advocating early rising as a means to greater productivity, the practice of early rising can

actually be harmful.

17. More technology of ten leads to decreased productivity.

18. Hyperfocusing on productivity of ten gets in the way of the messy, circuitous, and discursive routes

of personal development.

19. When most people speak of productivity in the of f ice, theyre usually speaking about a specific kind

of productivity: cubical- land, desk-job, inf ormation-worker productivity. The methods used to produce

this kind of productivity of ten do not generalize to other contexts.

20. No productivity sys tem can put you in a zen like, meditat ive, or mind like water s tate. A calm, focused,

and meditative mind leads to greater productivity, but productivity systems cannot create a mind like

water.

21. Too much productivity can turn you into a real too l.

22. Massive value creation of ten happens during times when no work is ostensibly being accomplished

and productivity levels are ostensibly nil.

23. What makes people productive varies considerably f rom person to person.

24. Productivity is of ten a necessary evil: if you dislike your job, youre going to need a water-t ightproductivity system in place to keep you on task.

25. Productivity should be designed around lives, not the o ther way around.

http://www.clay-collins.com/blog/productivity-nutjobs-explained/http://www.clay-collins.com/blog/the-mind-like-water-myth-a-dialog-between-bruce-lee-a-productivity-guru-and-others/http://www.clay-collins.com/blog/healthy-wealthy-and-dead-5-reasons-why-getting-up-early-might-be-harmful/http://www.clay-collins.com/blog/introducing-the-hobbyist-productivity-genre/http://www.google.com/search?q=%22for+busy+people%22http://www.clay-collins.com/blog/6-keys-to-getting-paid-for-being-you-an-anti-career-guide/http://www.clay-collins.com/blog/quitting-things-and-flakiness-the-1-productivity-anti-hack/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/business/20workexcerpt.html