The Anti-Productivity Revolution
Next Big Idea Club
Where thought leaders converge, where ideas transform into action, and where books become a gateway to a brighter future
The Next Big Idea Daily newsletter (SUBSCRIBE) is written by me, Michael Kovnat, and gathers insights from today’s leading non-fiction authors. It’s a companion to our Next Big Idea Daily podcast, available on Apple or Spotify.
Confessions of a Recovering Productivity Nerd:
Slowly but surely, I'm relaxing my need to always be Getting Things Done. I'm deleting the task management apps, ditching the time-blocking techniques, and allowing some parts of my day -- or even entire days -- to be less than fully optimized.
Man, it feels good to say that out loud.
Withdrawal can be tough, though, so for support I've been dipping into some recent books on what you might call anti-productivity, contrarian takes on hustle culture that promise a more sane and human way of working. Rather than adding more tools to the organizational arsenal or squeezing more tasks into each hour, writers like Kendra Adachi , Cal Newport, and Oliver Burkeman suggest we need to fundamentally rethink our relationship with time and accomplishment. These authors, who have shown up on recent episodes of the Next Big Idea Daily, propose that true productivity might actually come from doing less, not more.
In Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts, Oliver Burkeman takes direct aim at what he calls our "productivity theater" – the endless pursuit of systems and tools that make us feel productive without necessarily improving our lives. He argues that accepting our mortality and limitations isn't depressing, but liberating. By acknowledging we can't do everything, we're forced to choose what truly matters.
Hear Oliver's challenge to "productivity theater":
Cal Newport's Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout builds on this theme, suggesting that our attempts to optimize every minute have created a paradox: the more efficiently we work, the more work we're expected to handle. He proposes a radical slowdown, arguing that meaningful accomplishment requires periods of what might look like inefficiency – deep thinking, meandering conversations, and even boredom.
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Hear Cal take on the false promise of optimization:
Perhaps most provocatively, Kendra Adachi's The PLAN: Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius reclaims the word "lazy" as a positive term. Her "Lazy Genius" approach isn't about avoiding work, but about being strategic about what we give our energy to. She challenges readers to stop trying to be productive in every area of life and instead focus their efforts where it truly matters to them personally.
Hear Kendra on embracing "lazy" wisdom:
We also heard a lot of other big ideas on the podcast this week, like:
By the way, if you're interested in having these and thousands of other big ideas right in your pocket, download the Next Big Idea app.
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