Productivity: Are We Okay?
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- Опубликовано: 15 фев 2024
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Self-Optimization Is Killing Us
Time! Does anybody have enough of it? In our era of self-optimization, it’s easy to feel like you’re always falling short of reaching your goals. But what if self-optimization isn’t really about us or our capabilities? What if the systems that pressure us to become more efficient are more nefarious than the productivity gurus might have you think? Let’s explore in this video: “Why We Don’t Have Enough Time to Be Human.”
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In Defense Of Laziness ► • In Defense of Laziness
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Written by Rachel Van Nes
Hosted by Michael Burns
Directed by Michael Luxemburg
Edited by Benji Dunaief
Produced by Olivia Redden
Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound
#productivity #optimization #culture
© 2024 Wisecrack / Omnia Media, Inc. / Enthusiast Gaming
When the pandemic killed my career and forced me to move back closer to home. I spent a whole year basically quarantined with my pregnant wife. At the end of that year, I was holding a baby girl in my hands. I sang for her and she smiled for the first time. That made an impact. That was the best year of my life.
Hell yeah dude, that's freaking beautiful. Hope your family is well.
I'm happy to hear it was a win for somebody and a specific example. Good for you man.
What did you sing?
(I hope it it was "Sweet Child O' mine)
@@yourfriendlyinternetmeatshield It was, and I confess that with a bit of embarrassment, the Song Of Beren and Lúthien, by J.R.R. Tolkien. Specifically the version by Clamavi De Profundis.
@@WisecrackEDU We are, now I also have a boy. Keep up the great work. It helps me keeping an eye on what matters :).
@@jacoporegini8841
Feel no embarrassment fellow traveler, there is no need. That's an awesome choice. I'm something of a bard myself, and though I've read the books (apart from the Silmarillion, I couldn't get through that one, the hobit was my favorite, it hit all the points concisely and I was quite young) and seen the movies, and even the extra extended etc versions, know random trivia about the filming, reference the series pretty frequently (actually yesterday speaking on the riddle battle between Bilbo and Gollem, and like a little over a week ago actively spending hours researching the Entwives because I made a comment on a Let's Play I made involving them and wasn't positive I was correct, and I just be like that sometimes if I remember to double check myself) but do not recall that song.
I just listened to it and its... beautiful, a bit haunting, and rather sad, an interesting choice imo, but still really cool that you chose something so specific and unique... also quite long, lol. But have pride in your choice, how few can say the same as you? Or even something comparitively complicated and.... otherworldly? May I ask if the child's name is in some way a reference to the series? Or was that just something you wanted to do?
I listened to this while I was in the shower, which, I suddenly realized, used to be a distraction-free zone where I could just let my mind wander on its own. The irony was not lost on me.
That's very real. I often bring a blue tooth speaker into the shower . . . as if relaxing for 10 minute without consuming some kind of content is a waste of time.
The shower is like the last remaining place to be able to think about stuff without feeling guilty about not doing something "productive", because showering is already productive while taking minimal concentration. I urge you to welcome back your shower thoughts!
@@WisecrackEDUi’m doing this while pooping
Or, or, maybe the "just shower thoughts" are instead of being some random questionably valuble, potentially "deep" musing, and now are more confiramably and verifiably deep and useful? (Given that it is coming from like, people who studied philosophy etc.) Just a thought. Maybe, consider a perspective shift on that specific thing. Apart from a viral tweet a the rate of a winning lottery ticket, most people don't really benefit them.
@@yourfriendlyinternetmeatshield I wasn't specifically trying to make a case for shower thoughts as such, but for having at least some point during the day where we're not inundated with outside information and can reflect on everything going on in our lives, so we can have more intentionality in how we live. Living thoughtlessly and pursuing goals relentlessly without ever taking time to re-evaluate those goals, their associated costs, and whether that bargain still makes sense. Living a life with zero self-reflection is a great recipe for potentially waking up one morning when you're 40-50 and suddenly realizing that you're miserable _because_ of the decisions you made and never took the time to question. But maybe you're right, and those 5-10 minutes could have been spent on... well... whatever it is that you think is so much more important. Writing youtube comments I guess?
Literally just ended the day after an announcement from directors that the project’s scope has been tripled and that we (as employees) need to “see it as an opportunity” and “not be afraid to challenge ourselves”
I would mind this less if directors/vp's/upper mgmt were the hardest working in their departments, but that's rarely the case.
Good ol' capitalism
One of many reasons I retired early and shudder at the thought of going back to that bullshit.
@@RTB1400 Or they are batshit crazy and expect everyone to live on 4 hours of sleep like they.
Don't challenge yourself
Byung-Chul Han said that the inactivity is what constitutes the human. We need moments of doing nothing to the productivity to arise
Yes
We’ve been going against human nature and eventually we will break or evolve to get over the anxiety, depression. The toxic food, water and air. Working more than relaxing. Not thinking just doing.
Had a mental break down at my last job due to them dumping 10 people's jobs on me for no extra money, regardless of how well my "made up corporate stat numbers" were, they kept saying it wasn't enough to get a bonus. Not even even i was presenting to the ceo, had top numbers in the entire company and ran a non profit volunteer organization through the company. I quit to go volunteer for a school. Much happier. A sneeze away from being homeless since I'm not getting paid but I've finally been able to feel again.
This somehow reminds me of Milton from Office Space... I'm glad you're happier, but.... in the fictional movie his consistent threats of..... becoming the fire nation lol, and attacking the company, it worked out pretty well for him lol.
Lol. Glad you're okay, but I feel terrible the price is potentially homelessness
@@joshuagharis9017 I was a bloody sneeze away from s***ide. I can work my way back up financially. Can't come back from the dead.
This is a big plus having a blue collar job, work ends when you clock out (unless your company has an on call schedule). No office, no meetings, no working from home. Just go to the job, do the job, leave the job
Moving from corporate to construction because of this.
What blue collar job is that?
Most blue collar positions are ""asking"" for overtime availability, unpaid extra training on weekends for a "prospective promotion" that never happens but the boss will guilt trip you don't "consider your future", and want you on site 2 hours early "just in case" even though you can't clock in yet. Also you can't leave half the nights without a 20 minute off the clock discussion about the next day
I can maybe see... package delivery being clock in and clock out? Like UPS?
But it's definitely not park maintenance, livestock work, tree trimming, landscaping, janitorial positions at schools or pool cleaning
I’m a hairstylist, I often find myself still working on my off days 😂
@@inuendo6365Asking...yeah but are they gonna get it if it's unpaid? PFFFF fuck no. No money no work...no bonus no wakey on my day off. I know I don't exactly work "blue collar" I do healthcare which is similar. Yes they're short sometimes...yes we'll come in if they're short but only if they wave a bonus in front of our face to do it. Back in covid they were so desperate they legit gave 1000$ bonus on top of pay for each day you picked up.
The negatives outweigh the positives in construction IMO. Time flies in construction when you’re working hard but the work sucks and everyone is vocal about how shit the job is or who they hate. So much drama in construction it could be a fuckin soap opera it was ridiculous. You do get to form very close bonds with people though and you meet a lot of characters.
Just spend an hour crying and asking the universe why I feel so disconnected and memory-less in my life and incapable of keeping up...and this video appears like a descending angel of clarity: There is nothing wrong with me. There is everything wrong with the world. And getting all of the things done will not save me. Thank you.
Saint Michael, is not going to hell (because it's not a real thing) and this is proof
I feel like it's this mindset that led to describing things as "average" being a bad thing.
"Multitasking" means one of my monitors has my crossword puzzle on it, so I can figure out the next clue/answer while I'm responding to "important" work emails.
While working away on the computer at my job I am also messing around on Reddit. Same thing during virtual meetings where they request you turn the camera on, which is funny because even when people are looking at the screen it never looks like they are looking at you.
Hell is real; it’s the void that is your mind. And we’re all in our own personal permanent purgatory until we die.
“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven..”
― John Milton, Paradise Lost
I've heard of many people who purposely seek to avoid being alone with their thoughts while I was growing up, so I made it a mission to always confront mine and be at peace with myself. Overall, I think I've been largely successful in that. Of course, some people experience such traumatic things that they cannot simply "confront" them and I don't blame them for that, but I do not believe that fearing being alone with one's thoughts is meant to be a universal human experience.
Fun!
that's what "rest in peace" was all about, true retirement
So dark haha! Welcome to the void brother!
As someone who recently binged 6 hours of lectures to study for a mid-term while on a 3.5 hour flight coming home from a work trip, this hit home a little too hard
How did the midterms go? Hope they went well 🙏🏾
This also hit hard for me too.
I work in a call center, and anyone can tell you, stats are your life in this environment. I've been at this company for years and I'm really good at my job. My stats are always really good, in the top 10 of the floor.
Every week I get told how bad I am at my job, I have to acknowledge it in writing and promise to do better.
I've started writing stuff like "I will soon achieve utter perfection" or "No time to be human, just need to get this perfect".
No one has said anything. I think my boss thinks it's just as much BS as I do, but his bosses boss thinks it's important to tell the employees how crappy they are every week. We recently got a new top manager, and he's the WORST. My little group I work directly with are the best, corporate, however, I despise them with every fiber of my being.
I think one of the smallest but more deeply radical things I try to do every day is remind myself and everyone around me that our value isn’t tied to our productivity or work.
We are measured by more important stuff than a quota or a to-do list. And we deserve to live because we’re alive.
Thank you for making a video on this that I can now send to my friends when they chastise themselves for resting or having fun
i watched at 2x speed, had at max 5 tabs open, and was constantly looking at my phone. to be fair, i was checking my phone to see when my food would arrive.
love the honesty.
@@WisecrackEDUYou guys are the Best 😊😊😊❤❤❤❤❤
Same..
@@WisecrackEDU I watch at 1.5x and never look at my phone for maximum absorption
The ADHD is strong with this one....
I still remember the time I (IT Support) was talking to a lady who was only two or three days out of the hospital after a..."difficult pregnancy". Newborn with her, trying to manage two hundred people in a HR department and sounding like she was barely holding it together. I asked if she'd had time to do Troubleshooting step A, and she kept apologising profusely and sounding so guilty. I tried then to say "Lady, you don't need to feel guilty, you're fresh out of the hospital with severe wounds, you have a brand new baby you should feel you're safe to pay attention too, you shouldn't feel so guilty you can't even take the maternity leave you're entitled to" but in corporate speak. I still feel like I didn't communicate that well enough or did enough to ease her guilt. I hope she and her baby are doing okay.
Last year, I left my corporate work from home job led by workaholics who set unrealistic goals and expectations. I then found a different corporate work from home job that has never required me to work overtime, never contacts me outside of work hours, and has absolutely doable goals and expectations, with a manager who is the most chill person I've ever met...all while being paid way more than in my previous job.
At first it made me so anxious having full workdays where I had no pending tasks. But my manager was like "eh, it's like that sometimes, enjoy it and get your money". Really lucked out on this one, it motivates me even more to do my job well, unlike in my previous work where I just wanted to get the thing done as quickly as possible with no real regard for quality.
This is what work should be like for everyone
Hell is real, it's the senseless 'optimization' and commodification of every aspect of life. We're all going there. Thanks Reagan.
On some “work will set you free” type of shit 💀😭
Not to pat my own back, but I would say that I internalized a lot of the solutions to this sort of situation a long time ago, and I joke with my friends that it's led to a "Crippling lack of professional ambition". I'm happy with my job, I don't go all out, and as a result I'm relatively left in the dust economically by my peers and friends who are more the high-achieving sort. This has led to an odd sort of resentment that none of the things I appreciate in my life (like my family, kids, general knowledge seeking, relationships, hobbies, etc.) contribute to material well being. And because of that, I always feel behind, but arrogant and stubborn in my adhering to my brand of slacktivism.
So, in a world that is imbalanced towards productivity chasing, laying back actively harms you and your household whilst you sit there smug that you're bucking the system. That said, while I do feel guilty about that, I would also feel guilty every second I choose to work instead of spending it with my kids or partners. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
No matter how hard you work, you'll never be paid what you're worth.
Even those at the top, still true, just in a painful ironic way, cause they are almost, ALMOST totally useless, so they should be paid less than a homeless person begging on a bad street corner
Listened to this while assembling my fiancee's Valentines Day vanity table.
You're a special person and every video you put out feels like a breath of fresh air. Your train of thought is so fluid but air tight where it really needs to be.
I wish your vids had been around when I was a baby Marxist. They're very accessible to newcomers and don't bash you over the head with hyper-intellectual jargon or need an indepth understanding of theory written by people who died centuries ago.
I can feel a lot of love emitting from your script, the love for humanity that everyone that can perceive the chains that bind us needs in order to push forward.
Your wit, honesty, and down to earth attitude remind me a lot of Michael Brooks. RIP the goat
Thank you so much for this kind and thoughtful comment - and agreed, RIP Michael Brooks.
Had to walk away from a job I loved for 20 years thinking I was a failure for it. This video really gave me a new perspective. Thank you
no we are not okay thats why we are here Michael !
I “watch” these on my phone while I work with my double monitor set up. I didn’t really get to listen that well, but I’m guessing you said something about how we are all morally obligated to increase shareholder value. Excellent commentary 9/10
This came at just the right time. Definitely a topic I’ve been trying to approach with my therapist. It’s a difficult subject because ultimately that cycle of seeking productivity is what allowed me to survive. Having finally gotten to a healthier situation I’ve now turned that focus to my hobbies, but I feel like I’m giving myself anxiety about not pursuing my hobbies “efficiently” enough. Breaking that habit down to a tool rather than a lifestyle is currently the most challenging thing for me.
as someone with ADHD this cycle is just getting more and more unbearable with each passing day since like high school. I cant remember the last time i felt satisfied with my output. despite feeling like I'm constantly putting twice the effort as every one around me seem to I still feel like I get half the results. the irony is that whenever I find something I actually wanna do every once in a while I work and feel so much better to the point where I feel kind of sad when its done. Im getting so anxious and stressed out tying to keep up to the point im getting hair fall and literal allergic reactions to my anxiety. and all that im not even 25 yet and the future seems to be going in that same direction but way worse.
It’s much the same here. For the past eight years I’ve been waking up anxious and going to bed disappointed, not to mention guilty-and all that the ADHD forums seem to talk about is how to manage it just enough in order to fit into existing structures; again with the endless optimization. I don’t know what to do. It’s just hard.
If you live in the US and have been officially diagnosed with ADHD, then you are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and you have a lawful right to get workplace accommodations.
Your employer is required by law to provide you with accommodations that allow you to perform your job without undo mental or physiological stress.
It does not require disclosing your condition to your employer at any time before formally requesting accommodations, not during the job interview, and not during a period of work already performed.
It is unlawful for your employer to fire you on grounds of requesting accommodations, and it is unlawful for them to retaliate against you in the future.
The usual step after accommodation request includes an arbitration, whereby the business has to prove what accommodations it cannot provide due to any undue financial burden, which for larger businesses (15+ employees) or corporations is very difficult to claim.
Links - www.dol.gov/agencies/odep/program-areas/mental-health/maximizing-productivity-accommodations-for-employees-with-psychiatric-disabilities
- askjan.org/disabilities/Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity-Disorder-AD-HD.cfm -
Also check your local and state laws on ADHD and disability protection and consider moving to a state that more closely protects your physical and mental wellbeing. You have a right to work without harm to your mental and physical wellbeing. You have one life, one body, and tremendous talents. Let nobody take that away from you.
I was folding laundry and listening/watching at full speed.
I would say i like WFH because i hate driving and can't afford to live close enough to work to take any other mode
I like wfh because i hate my coworkers
@@LuisSierra42 ah that suck. I actually really miss mine. (from when i could afford the rent closer to the office)
I need wfh because childcare is too expensive.
I like WFH because my office job has a lot of downtime because I work in translation so waiting for translators to send the files back is a lot of my day, so with wfh, I can do dishes or work on art stuff until an email comes in to process and format.
Also my cat is at home, not the office
Do you mean normal speed?
Watched at 1x speed while exercising. Stopped the video once mid watch to share on FB and to my friend. Love your videos.
Thanks a ton for sharing. Means a lot that you'd do that, and it really does help us a ton.
Consistency is important, but it's equally important to let go when the workday is over and start fresh the next day.
My dining table does also sometimes become my work desk! I was shocked and laughed when you said that.
Your video made me think more about my perception of time when I am busy. I definitely feel it flies by way too fast, but I don't hear other people talk about it often so I appreciated hearing it here
I like working from home. I took some effort to separate my spaces into work spaces and rest spaces. I am lucky enough to have an extra room that I converted into an office and I much prefer my home office with plants and art on the walls and children playing outside and where I prepare lunch in my own kitchen and eat it in the garden. The 3 days a week I commute into work an hour each way so I can work from a sterile agile cubical in an office with exposed concrete and insulation where cables running along the ceiling and the desks are just doors turned on their sides with legs on them. Despite working in this office I don't have any ownership of the space I exist in and those who do have ownership have left the office in a state that feels unfished and that there is always more to do. While working from home I can change anything I want to suit my needs to create a space worthy of human habitation and peace. When I work from home I can approach my labor on my own terms without concerning myself with how it might look to others in the office that I am taking off early.
I feel the same way. I have strictly devided work and private spaces, which works fine. The the one day per week I have to commute is quite stressful. One hour for each way, having to wear uncomfortable cloths, people constatntly coming in and wanting something. Working from home was a game changer for me.
Each thing I do, I rush through so I can do something else. In such a way do the days pass---a blend of stock car racing and the never ending building of a gothic cathedral. Through the windows of my speeding car I see all that I love falling away: books unread, jokes untold, landscapes unvisited...
~Stephen Dobyns
5:00 See I’m a PhD student so my work has never had any boundaries
When I heard you mention optimization and productivity being the subject of this video last week on the stream, I knew Byung-Chul Han would be the heart of this video.
My cure for burnout and anxiety is weed, Im an anxious person so it does help me forget all the shit I have to do, be a good little capitalist boy and do what I can.
I watched it on 1.0 speed, was listening to a record in the background and uploading an experimental short film on my phone while watching this. Ive been got, bad. Halfway through the video I realized "Oh shit... He's talking about me rn". Put down my phone, paused the video and let the record spin out, came back and here we are.
Ive been a whole hearted believer in the idea that our economic and social systems are driving the increase in negative mental health diagnoses since I heard Alan Watts say something along the lines of "If you tried to make a society that was as conducive to mental disorder and instability as possible, you could not make one better than what we have now". only thing is, he said that in like the 50's or 60's, and things have gotten worse in a lot of ways.
Glad you guys are taking a bit of a step back with releasing videos so often and starting to treat yourselves better this year, keep up the great work!
Love the topic. Yes my dining table is also my office and I have a desk in my beedroom. I watch videos at 4.5x speed on my computer.
here's how to get things done by waking up at 4am and sleeping at 2am! view my morning routing of a billionaire!
4.5x speed is a thing? I thought 2x was the fastest
@@erxtric There is a special extension on Google chrome.
@@erxtric He was probably exaggerating
That's not the flex you think it is.
Hello from Ireland! Watched this with my full attention at normal speed after getting my little one to bed, no distractions. I'm on government-funded parental leave currently and take short breaks for time to myself at the end of the day and often use that time to watch informative videos like yours on topics I'm interested in.
May i request you express something you really love about living in Ireland?
@@yourfriendlyinternetmeatshield I love the community in my city. People look after and care about each other
@@BeyondTheBarkIreland thank you. I've always had a fascination with Ireland, (there's much media I fancy that references or takes place there, the accents I find charming and endearing, and I hear it's quite beautiful and lovely) the history is kinda crazy, in (from a crazy person's perspective) a "good" way. By that I mean, lesser countries and people have been written out of history. The Irish remain, despite.... everything. Not just remain, but sustain their cultural identity. Famines and wars and kingdoms questing to control. Still.... Irish.
That's amazing to me. It's nice to know that community and people actually matter there. Truly mean something. It's beautiful.
I’m glad you brought up WFH. I did it for about three years and every day it made my home feel more and more like a prison for which there was no escape.
There were benefits-like not having to drive to work, or put on “office clothes”-but honestly. It’s a big reason why I quit the corporate environment. I couldn’t do it anymore.
To me it felt like I was just at home playing video games alone, but instead of the video games being fun works of art, the video game was Microsoft Excel and Outlook.
I couldn't do it either. I lost my drive to be productive during the WFH stint and I became majorly depressed and would not work. I would log in and then tab out and bugger off to do something else. The line between home and work slowly degraded, and I just couldn't do it after a while. I had to go on short term leave for four months because I was so lost in what a good routine for me was. It gave me time to reset and reevaluate what I want.
I'm the only one on my team in my city who's permanently coming into the office every day, leaving the laptop at the office, and I've never been happier. Does it suck that I'm the only one doing it in my immediate team? Yeah. Do I need it to keep my sanity? Yeah, and that's way more important than waking up 15 minutes before my shift and start working while still rubbing the sleep outta my eyes. I'd rather leave my work at work, and that's okay, despite what society thinks it wants me to do.
I listened to this video while laying with my eyes closed in my car waiting for my wife while she got a message on a rainy Saturday afternoon. It was relaxing in a sense of entertainment while trying to relax my back and eyes. Insert kind words toward wisecrack.
I haven't had very many opportunities to work from home, but I learned a pretty good tip when I did: Light your workspace differently when you're working. I would have these big, bright lamps overhead that I would turn on when I was working (made me feel like I was in a bright office), then I would turn them off and put them away when I was done. It may sound silly, but it psychologically helped keep my work space/fun space separate.
I feel like even just changing clothes into more workplace-frendly ones would help create the seperation between working and relaxing time.
@peggedyourdad9560 100% agreed! I work in IT and no matter what, I'll always wear an ironed longsleeve shirt and look representable. As I learned from my dad, coming home from work and switching clothes helps a lot to keep work and freetime separate.
Thank you for putting words around the experience I’ve spent the last five years working to recover from.
Yes! Right now I am literally eating next to my laptop in my office chair.
It's strange how right on the verge of burnout the clouds part and I am blessed with the words of Crack The Wise about the very topic I'm falling into. May your Secret Service intelligence be ever vigilant.
2x speed, with 8 tabs open while folding clothes. The irony of listening to content at faster speed to optimise content while seeking out more/longer content is not lost on me, especially as media continues to migrate to one of two extremes (either bite sized or upwards of an hour).
I watched at 1x speed and had 17 other tabs open. I don't think I looked at my phone, but I did pause to cook food and troubleshoot my webcam
you rock Michael
I was sat in the car this time and watcjed with little to no distraction while I waited.
Good video.
You very efficiently hit the nail right on the head
Nowadays I try to do as little as possible really. But yeah I feel guilty sometimes, I always have weather I've been doing alot or a little. Nothing seems to satisfy.
I'm a funeral director, and work-life balance and burnout are issues that have brought the industry to a near crisis point. From a sheer market perspective, there just aren't enough people getting in, and staying in to make it make sense. Add the disappearance of the middle class, and consequently, the rise of low cost cremation (my specific area of specialization) as an alternative to the lavish (and economically produictive) funerals of our grandparents, and you see a recipe for the collapse of an industry that is deeply necessary for society to function. On a more human level, addiction and the sad s word are very prevalent among death workers. I work a 10 day stretch, then take 4 days off. However, of those 10 days, 4 of which are "on call". If the phone rings after 5pm and before 8am, it's my problem. And of course it goes without saying, that many of those after hours calls are pickups, where I'll be driving to the place of death and taking the deceased into our care. The distinction between my time and the funeral home's time is so drastically pronounced, that oftentimes I find myself trying to "optimize" my own relaxation/self care. Like, my days off come, and I'm already planning out most of my time within them, to the point that often I set up my own disappointment when I don't go golfing with my friends, watch all 3 lord of the rings with my wife, go forage for mushrooms out in the woods, catch that stand up artist I've been trying to see for years, play fetch with my dogs, finally finish baldur's gate 3, read something just for fun, break out my crock and make some saurkraut, and still find time just to sleep in and think weird thoughts about nothing. I know the answer is to just plan/manage smaller bites to ensure I actually complete one task before trying to voraciously gobble them all down at once, but I can't help but daydream about a different system that "makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticise after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, herdsman or critic.”
I'm so grateful for this account. Keep it going, this is so helpful to so many of us right now.
Really appreciate that, thank you so much.
I work my 40 hours in four ten hour days. And then don’t think about work at all. I love cooking, and make dinner for my wife and I most nights. Friday is my run around day. Doctors appointments grocery shopping, working around the house. Saturday and Sunday is for fun, going to the beach, or a park, or just reading a novel. I budget to afford only working 40 hours, and I am highly productive at work because I’m not burnt out. I reject hustle culture, and ridicule the people I know who embrace it.
Life is for living, not becoming a machine.
Hell doesn’t exist, neither does Heaven, this life is all you get.
Watched at regular speed of course.
Thanks for another great video.
Same. Except for me, I have a "leave me alone and I'll leave you alone" attitude about differences in preferred work-life balance in one's lifestyle. If someone else is type-A and all into the hustle culture lifestyle, then I'm like "okay good for you if that's how you want to live your life." But if they try to judge me or shame me for not being more gung ho about working and productivity, then I will respond back more negatively and throw shade back at them for being willing slaves to the grindset mentality.
Great point about the protest culture that briefly existed during the pandemic. I watched this video while eating DoorDash fast food in my living room, because I’m working from home recovering from a car accident that occurred due to exhaustion from years of sleep deprivation related to our work culture and the strategies used to mentally escape it. Full circle, I guess.
See THIS is just heartbreaking. You're injured and STILL HAVE TO WORK--and when working so much put you in this situation no less. It's disgusting. There is no real reason this should be happening yet here we are because "work culture." Thoughts and prayers, my dude. You deserved better. ❤
I worked an 8 hour shift, took my baby to an appointment, then declined taking a nap with my baby and spouse in order to do laundry and sort things to sell. 😭 Spouse asked me to chill but unfortunately i cannot
I popped this video on while cooking dinner because I know that a majority of Wisecrack videos I can listen to and not have to watch. Btw, my dinner was great!
Well read this michael, thank you very very much ❤
Well read Michael is! Thanks For this❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊
Learning how to say “no” is something I’ve had to learn & also not feel guilty about it is another step I’ve had to take. Great thought provoking video and keep up the good work 😊
Walking is very productive! I'm walking right now! So many benefits. Allows me to destress and... be more productive.
Watched this on my phone on normal speed while cooking and while eating said cooking. I live alone and having you around for my meals reminds me of the dinner table discussions i used to have with my dad back home. There were no other screens this time, though when the video was about to end I started to look for something else to watch and then decided to write this comment instead.
I absolutely inhaled the meal though. There was no real need for that
I 100% was also reading something on my phone for the entire video. I also got up to go check on dinner.
I hope it wasn't hot dogs. Lol
Watched this on my phone while at work and it's the only tab open if you don't count my work computer's tabs. Normally my job involves answering the phone, but today is when I don't have to so they don't care what else I do
Watched this at normal speed and listened while playing Stardew Valley. And I admit, had 8 tabs including this one open... and most of them were on game tips!
so many gems in this episode! I too don't see a path forward without modifying the economy to accommodate us. Currently, every action we take is integrated within an economic competition that represents a very real and literal war. That's not just exploitative or destructive, but inhumane and abhorrent. We must recognize people as they are, not as what they could be. 19:30
Never miss a video! Keeo up the good work michael and team wisecrack 🤘🤘🤘🔥🔥🔥🔥
Hellooo!!! Nice that you are back!
i literally can't watch any video without putting it on 2x speed now bc any lower would be too slow and bore me out of watching it.
my brain probably processes time passing in 2x speed at this point.
As someone with audhd I thrive when I am moving at a million miles an hour. I have to listen to podcasts and videos on double speed or I won't be able to follow along. My natural speaking cadence is extremely fast, but I slow it down when I talk to people, or they can't follow me. I have a mountain of projects at all times, and I spend hours each day "leveling up" my skills as they say. I've been by far the most productive person at every job I've had (and incidentally the least paid) I've had have eventually become too boring for me to care about them. I started my own business and work out of my home, and I've never been happier. Alot of the ND folks I talk to thrived during the pandemic and have been feeling increasingly better due to the work at home trend.
For me, my high level of productivity directly leads to my happiness. I am absolutely miserable any time I'm not doing something productive. I hate when people tell me I just need to take time off or take a break, because that literally drives me to such anxiety I start shaking. lmao But it's what I do. The important part being the I part. What I do is unnatural for the average person. It's just not sustainable and you won't be good at it. Also, I don't think anyone should work this hard for another person. This level of productivity should be saved for yourself and no one else. The hard part is that now that I'm getting older, my body doesn't want to keep up with my mind and that is torture!
Please, look deeper into better help’s posture on Israel-Palestine situation
Watched/listened to this while working from home. I try to be conscious of not tying my worth to my productivity and while I do my job, some days it doesn't feel like I'm doing enough. It's a mental health issue too as I have mild ADHD and sometimes just sort of....can't, for a while. Oh well. One day at a time
I’m watching this while folding my laundry. Optimization. Pressed for time. Relaxation. Don’t cease from the grind.
I made a burger and beer lunch while I listened to this and had a mental tab going in the background planning my DnD game for next week. I value productivity that is beneficial to my mental health but I can't argue that I don't feel guilty if I just do nothing for a day
I was listening to this at normal speed as I was molding clay 💙🇵🇭 hope your message goes through.
First person molding clay while listening!
Whatcha making?
@@yourfriendlyinternetmeatshield
Bricks for a hottub.
@@writecraft7049 dope. That's not at all what I would have guessed, ever, but, I respect it. You got have like, a special one though, at least one that arts or something
@yourfriendlyinternetmeatshield
Do you know how hard Clay shaping is by hand? It's actually pretty easy. . . Especially cause I'm using very high clay wet soil. But my goal was always to copy that Incan design. I loved how they patterned there, lime. Alright, thanks for the encouragement, meatshield!💙🇵🇭
I finally found the "time" to watch this video of yours, weeks after it was uploaded; yeah, procrastination and feeling overwhelmed are two things that I'm working to overcome. Thanks for the hopeful message to get out of this counterproductive/counterintuitive issue about self-optimization toward the end.
I don't know when I realized this but it sure helps me defend my work ethic or rather, the deliberate reduction thereof: increasing my productivity at work by 50% does not equate to a 50% increase in my pay. If I'm not being compensated fairly for my extra effort, why am I putting forth that extra effort in the first place? Of course, I have the luxury of enough job security to have such a viewpoint and still remain employed but this perspective has helped me not care about not winning recognitions and awards at work because the people who did receive them probably worked their asses off which I purposely avoid.
I'm watching all four of the old history of the work videos at the same time. Gotta optimize my youtube viewing. Productivity is amazing!!! 🤮🤮🤮
Drop BetterHelp my dude they suck
How so?
Israeli company
That would be financially suboptimal
Why?
@@mnbdyI mean they also just use AI as therapy And treat the employees terribly with not good pay.
This is just on paper. In reality, we also have to deal with mental disorders, the guilt of not attending to our loved ones, the competing urges of maximizing the joy we can squeeze out of a hobby… the list goes on. It’s essentially a losing battle!
Videos like this are exactly why I love this channel and what you all do
Thank you so, so much.
currently raging against the machine by lying in bed all day 😎👍
That doesn't sound very self actualizing
AI will either help us with the productivity problem or make it so much worse with capitalisms continued need for growth.
Look at stagnant wages over the years compared to productivity increases and widening wealth disparity. Profits go to the top and it's only become more pronounced.
Thank you so much for this excellent insight 💚💚
Thanks for your permission. ❤
Capitalism has reached the deepest levels of being. And now here we are.
Please stop partnering with BetterHelp. Between their horrible track record with patient care & information, and their active partnership with the Israeli government during a GENOCIDE THEY ARE COMMITTING, it's honestly disheartening to still see BetterHelp sponsorships from people I respect as creators
They don't get a choice over their sponsors afaik, I think it's the partner company who deals with the sponsorship company
Excellent and eye opening 👀🙌✨
Great job on the color grade on this one guys!
Yeah. Don't let capitalism gaslight you. Nothing matters, come watch TV.
Also, P.S.: I watched this video at 1.5 times speed, like all the educational videos I watch. I watch purely entertainment videos at 2 times speed.
Today's Fact: In 2021, astronomers detected a powerful burst of radio waves from a distant galaxy, which lasted for just a fraction of a second.
Unless aliens are gonna pay our rent, this isn't worth much to the everyman.
A quasar most likely...
Sounds like its 2021's fact
Fast radio burts are detected all the time
I forgot my microwave turned on, sry guys
This was very interesting. I am a Pastor and our text this week is about Sabbath... so I watched your video for inspiration. There is a movement in religious circles that thinks about Sabbath as resistance to the work cycle's you are talking about. There is a great book called "Sabbath as Resistance, Saying No to the Culture of Now" by Walter Brueggemann that I found really helpful with this concept. Sabbath is not about a day to goof off, rather it is an issue of justice that followers of the 10 commandments are to embrace... the simple idea that absolutely everyone deserves a day of rest.
Sabbath also challenges us to think about the opportunity to rest not as something we earned by checking things off our to do lists, but rather as a gift given to us because we are loved by our creator.
Finally it reminds us that God rests, and if we honor God as our creator, then we as creation cannot be greater (or more productive)... therefore rest is an act of being humble, accepting our limitations, and slowing down enough to get back in touch with those things that resonate within us and give life meaning... (a theological term I often hear spoken of in terms of abundant life..
Sorry for the long post... but I continue to be amazed at how often Theology and Philosophy overlap...Thanks for the video, I found it helpful and inspiring!
One thing that is terrifying in this video is the mention of "60 hour work week" said so casually like it was nothing. there have been major fights and protests for the 40 hour one and even then it is horrible for people. 60 hours would just be your entire life minus sleep and eating. This should not be normal.
I am watching this video at work, on a chromebook with no other apps open. Although I am frequently checking discord and messenger for new dopamine every few minutes on my phone. I do this for about 10 hours a day 5-6 days a week.
It’s one my first Wisecrack videos I watched on 1x. These videos seem to be having an impact, eventually
Great job!
I try to optimize by hearing online classes while I clean my house. At the end I found out that I clean more slowly while I m rewinding the class evrytime to understand the class... :/
I've gone from having a very high impact job which required me to be hyper productive to a job which is much more chill. I'm so happy to not have to be super optimized in my work anymore. I can have a chat with a colleague over coffee in the morning without feeling like i need to do work. For most jobs it's not life or death, that's just what your employer instills in you to make them profits. And in case anyone thinks I'm slacking off I've never felt more valued by an employer for the work I do despite me doing less. Also I'm making the same salary. You don't realise the mental toll that hyperproductivity can have on you until it's no longer required. I hope that others manage to get there too.
I listened to this on my headphones while I worked at the coffee shop side gig I have while periodically responding to emails in between drink orders
Great video.
Listening while I work
You're the Best Michael! Always looking forward to your videos! And the thumbnail was GOLDEN! HEARTH PLEASE❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Looked at my phone twice, posted this on Facebook and thought about posting this on LinkedIn, and I had 5 tabs open. Watched this taking a break from my second job of teaching programming (I was marking, as this is Family Day here in Ontario, Canada). So much for spending time with my family.
I watch while working. My computer usually has 27 or so windows open, 4 of which are communication tools, which ding constantly at my desk and all the desks around me when the company sends out one of its many BS emails, many of those are about improving your work/life balance through mindfulness or yoga or getting a new pet, how often you should stand up and whatnot, all while i review documents that have an entire system of tracking to assure they are being processed in a timely manner. This topic really resonates. Great video!
Also to the final question Michael, i watched this on thy phone, no other tabs but i kept pausing and interrupting my partner's reading to show them your funny lil comments and the deep quotes i thought resonated with me. Another solid & intriguing video.
P.s. playing all of those videos at once was a golden moment 😂 it was so unhinged and your nonchalant "i was just tryna save you some time" had me ROLLIN 💀
What a great sponsor for this