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Mar 14, 2023Liked by Anju Joy

Brilliant. 🎈

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Glad to hear

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The problem with pop psych is it pendulums to extremes. The cult of productivity and the cult of being a slacker are as bad as each other.

Having said that, being productive is the best way to stave off existentialist dread. And guilt for all that scrolling.

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Balance is what is key, yes. The point that I'm trying to make in the article is similar to what you're saying about existentialist predicaments in that productivity can give life meaning and purpose. It can boost the right kind of dopamine, different from the hits that one gets from scrolling. I've a post coming soon on pros/cons of guilt as well.

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I loved this article, thank you. Your illustration of the two workers at the beginning was spot on.

Getting stuff done can be deeply fulfilling on many different levels.

I struggle when the tasks involve a ton of seemingly pointless tech related things that don’t move the needle, such as password resets that don’t work, changing credit cards on an account and the hassle of that etc. We are at a place in life where there are many small, but necessary tasks, that are not at all rewarding yet must be done. The days where there’s visible production (even laundry) feel wonderful.

Thank you for this piece and for sharing your own story! I look forward to more of your writing on productivity , and possibly the discipline to bring it, so rev up the dopa!

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Thank you Donna. I'm glad to hear that you found this piece helpful.

"Getting stuff done can be deeply fulfilling on many different levels." - You know I agree!

The thing with most long term goals is that it takes time for the efforts to be visible e.g. Between Days 1 and 2 in the gym, there won't be much of a difference but between Days 1 and 100, there definitely will be. The struggle is to keep going till that 100th day. Once visibility comes into the picture, things get easier like you shared.

I'm planning to write a follow-up post on productivity at some point that is actionable and concrete in nature very much in line with your suggestion. As for next week's post, it's going to be on Guilt :)

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Guilt! I look forward to reading. That’s a slippery one:)

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It sure is! :)

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