Friday reflection

The shape of your days

Nearly two years into this pandemic that has upended so much about the way we used to live, I’m hearing folks in a lot of quarters questioning #hustle culture; calendars packed with back-to-back meetings and calls; and a national culture that leaves people feeling the need to be productive in order to be worthwhile.

I’m also hearing a lot of people say that they simply aren’t as productive as they used to be. Call it burnout, call it humanity, but I think we’re on the brink of a cultural shift. Twenty years from now, our kids aren’t going to experience work the way we do.

At least, I hope they don’t.

In I Didn’t Do the Thing Today: Letting Go of Productivity Guilt, author Madeleine Dore questions making productivity the centerpiece of our days, and, in turn, our lives, and wonders what might shift if we put creativity at the center, instead. I loved the book excerpt that the delicious Creative Morning newsletter shared this morning, and selected a quote from it to share as fodder for this week’s reflection.

Without further ado…

Quote

“If productivity narrows our days, creativity expands them.”

- Madeleine Dore

Question

How do you decide how to spend your days?

Look at your calendar. How did you make the choices that resulted in the appointments and commitments you have scheduled?

Consider your downtime, or lack thereof. How do you decide how much of it you get to savor?

What activities and people and places do you love most? Do you see them reflected in your schedule?

To throw in a bonus quote, the author Zadie Smith once wrote, “Time is how you spend your love.”

How do you spend yours?

- Amanda