The productivity myth is the idea that we should treat our selves and our lives as we treat machines, that we should measure our worth merely on an output and input equation.
This myth is fueled and nurtured by a larger fable of hypercapitalism. Like a monster whose appetite can never be satisfied, hypercapitalism operates on the idea that more is always more, beyond that, the only indicator of quality is a lower input, so more is more, especially if it is more for less.
This way of thinking is fruitful when we talk about the machines we created to free us from this very premise. If an automated factory produces more cars for less money, everybody wins, right? Beyond the problematic surplus of things this perversion of productivity creates, there is a much more pressing issue. Humans work at this factory too.
This factory is the factory of life, the factory of your own choosing, where in the name of hypercapitalism you are payed less for more everyday. The idea of judging whether you had a good day or not sorely on output vs input is absurd. It does not serve you and it does not serve your happiness. It serves a predatory system that has no regard for who you are. Because the truth is, as a human being, you cannot fulfill that promise, you are destined to fail, your humanity makes it so. We are not machines, so stop trying to optimize your life like you are one. Do not deny yourself the simplicity of being, however distorted that experience may have become.
