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this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2026
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The word productive scares me sometimes.
It's an obsession born out of capitalism. They want you focused on "productivity" because it makes the line go up. Sometimes you need to be unproductive.
My thoughts exactly. Maybe I dont want to produce, maybe I want to sit on my ass and play Gothic 1 for 7 straight hours.
'Productive' can be be recontextualized.
Reclaimed.
You can be productive at developing your skill at a hobby you simply enjoy partaking in, for no monetary benefit.
You can be productive at researching or learning something you are simply curious about.
You can be productive in many contexts other than 'producing profit for your boss'.
You can be productive at setting up a literal house of cards, and then knocking them over for fun.
You can be productive at coding a silly little tool that probably only you will ever use.
You can be productive at teaching a dog how to play catch.
The following is a current and valid definition of productive:
Basically just means: you accomplished something, or took meaningful steps toward accomplishing something.
Doesn't need to have anything to do with producing profit, performing a role/task for some other person.
You can have a productive therapy session where you succesfully confront/express something you hadn't previously, fully experience your emotions about that, and come to terms with them, gain better understanding of yourself.
You can be unproductive by daydreaming.
You can be unproductive by taking a nap.
You can be unproductive by eating a bunch of snacks and watching videos.
You can be unproductive by being bored, which... might not sound fun, but that's the time when I do some of my best cogitation. And I find myself bored less and less these days.
Or, I dunno, maybe you think all of those things are productivity, too, in which case---what are we even talking about?
You should do things because you want to do them. And if you want to do nothing, you should do that, too.
Your examples are true and important as well, people also need down time, relaxation, decompression.
You are correct that 'being bored' is the kind of ... mental space or mind state that often, seemingly accidentally leads to new ideas or a kind of 'lightbulb' moment.
You seem to be thinking I am fully disagreeing with you? I am not, your last two sentences are spot on.
I am just saying that you can reclaim the concept of 'productivity' away from your pay master, that 'productive' doesn't need to be a dirty word, per se.
I still also completely agree that... you should not feel compelled to feel any kind of productive, all the time, constantly. It is indeed fine to just... want to be unproductive, want to relax.