Why We Really Care About Productivity

I'm reading the book Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman.​

And it's incredible.

The author brings into focus many nuances that I've been feeling and experiencing in life when it comes to the tension between hopes and dreams and the "finitude of time."

On a drive up island the other day, I also listened to a lecture by the author that's available on Sam Harris' Waking Up App (which I love) that made me think.

In case you haven't heard of this book, 4000 weeks is the average number of weeks that we get to live in this life. 🤯

And when I first heard that I felt both shocked and inspired.

I have so many dreams and possible timelines and unfoldings that I desire for my life but I get stuck choosing a path or direction.

I question which mountain I should choose to climb and how I can organize things to have it all.

Which keeps me stuck at the bottom of various mountains sometimes.

He talks about how productivity culture is a trap because it makes us think that if we just manage our time better, we can have it all.

But what the author says is that there is freedom is understanding that we can't possibly do it all.

If we face the fact that there is only so much time, which path, direction, or mountain rises to the top of the list?

And which mountains can we let go of the pressure to ever climb?

These kind of decisions can create freedom and time that no productivity system can ever bring.

I've always brought a version of this lens to the work that I do and talk about this in my courses Scattered to Streamlined and Empowered Action.

But it's always been about how to focus on the right tasks and projects to grow our businesses.

Reading this book is deepening that understanding for me and my commitment to leveraging productivity and systems to lead a better, more fulfilling life, not to arbitrarily get more done.

I'm sharing this with you because if you’re here - I know you and I share some of the same values and that you don't want to be productive or put systems in place just to get more done.

You want productivity and systems for FREEDOM.

For joy, fulfillment, fun, adventure, and peace.

For a life fully lived.

And I am declaring right now THAT will much more completely underpin everything I do, create and share from this point forward.

Brb. Off to rewrite all my website copy. 😂

Amy x