From Keyboard Layouts to Practical Philosophy
I feel passionate about leaving this world a better place once my life is over. But aptly navigating the nuance of what constitutes better is a tricky craft. Is faster always preferable? Is doing more always better? I used to think it was, but I no longer do. I've come to realize (through my own experience with keyboard layouts) that the pursuit of productivity is another instance of the paradox of hedonism.
- When you seek to win a race, you may lose if you are too tired after training for it.
- When you follow dating advice, you may do things unnatural to you, which makes you more awkward, and you become less attractive as a consequence.
- When you try to improve your productivity, you may get fewer things done.
I find this lesson fascinating. But what exactly is the lesson here? What should we be avoiding and what should we do instead? Like Mark Twain once said...
"It's not what we don't know that gets us in trouble. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so."
Let's talk about that in this article!
The Paradox of Action, Hedonism & Productivity
The problem is these situations are paradoxical.
How can doing something whose only purpose is to get me closer to a goal actually put me farther away from it?
The following seems most reasonable:
- Typing faster saves time.
- An alternative layout makes me type faster.
- Learning an alternative layout saves time.
And yet, in my previous article, I've described how doing so achieved the exact opposite effect in the end. As Jean de La Fontaine first put it: “A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it”. Or as later uttered by Master Oogway: “One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it”. How Ironic! Right? Tai Lung would never have escaped had Shifu not sent the duck messenger to increase the prison security. I would have never required so much time had I just accepted QWERTY for what it was. But how are we supposed to know when we should act to improve our situation and when we should just let things be?
Don't Act. Just Think.
This question brings to my mind a very interesting video from public intellectual, cultural theorist, and Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek whose title has struck me to this day: Don't Act. Just Think.
In this video, Žižek touches upon topics that go out of scope for the examples of this article (Capitalism, Religion, etc.). But when you find yourself in a situation like this (i.e. you are meeting your destiny on the road you took to avoid it), this suggestion is exactly what you should do. In a way, this is what this article aims to do: stop you from acting and get you to think about things (at least for a good while). As Dr. K puts it, sometimes doing nothing is the most important thing you could do.
By the way, there are no words to express how much I love things like this. I love propositions that show how our default way of thinking is not only wrong... but diametrically wrong. It would seem as though the entire world is just going about their business and nobody is stopping to think about what they are doing at a large scale: everybody is busy nowadays. Maybe not everyone would confront you for telling them not to act and just think, but if we want to know what people believe in for real, we should focus on action, not on words.
Here's the thing, though: acting feels good. At times, it would seem that... given a bad situation, it would be better to do something (ANYTHING) than having done nothing. Even if we don't succeed, at least we tried, right? Well, don't be so sure about that. At the very least we should approach such situations being fully aware that we can make things exponentially worse.
When Productivity = Copium
The latest trend in YouTube productivity videos also seems to go against general productivity advice in general. For example, check out The Myth of Productivity:
This video discusses the book "Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals" by Oliver Burkeman.
"The more firmly you believe it ought to be possible to find time for everything, the less pressure you'll feel to ask whether any given activity is the best use for a portion of your time". - Oliver Burkeman
As mentioned in the video...
"Burkeman notes that this pathological quest to do more and more is really just an act of escape. We put off having to be present in the moment to avoid asking ourselves whether we are on the right path. We never are truly in the present. We never have to face the fact that we can only do one thing at a time. We don't have to accept that we are limited. But the fact is, plainly put, that there isn't enough time to do everything".
"Unfortunately, we experience most of our present as something to get through. We cultivate a 'when I finally...' mentality that won't allow us to be satisfied here and now. We're working towards something later, something better. Rarely do we do something for itself. To finally settle to say 'this is enough' or at the very least spend some time on a hobby that is just fun to do, is to say no to many other possible futures. Marriage or choosing that degree might feel like the death of a million alternative futures. But that's because we carry the irrational idea that we can somehow experience all of those futures. What is so wrong with settling? Is it really settling if we accept that we can't do it all? Even the best life we could possibly imagine will still end up being an endless stream of waving goodbye to possibility."
I want to talk so much about this video as it hits the spot for my experience as a Technical Solutions Engineer (Support Agent) @ Google. But I'll leave that for another time to stay on topic for today.
I do think I was escaping from the present when I bought the Moonlander keyboard. I was coping with my imposter syndrome (which has never really left ever since my university days). I wanted to think that... if I could just do things faster... if I could just be more productive, I would have time to finally learn the product I supported in and out, like the palm of my hand, the way I knew it had to be done. I had the following mentality: "When I finally become a true expert in my product, then I'll be able to rest and have a good time". But the reality was there was never really enough time for that, there was always another urgent case in the queue that required attention.
And yet, I can't really say that I didn't enjoy the keyboard layout ride. A part of me really just enjoyed improving my keyboard setup for the fun of it. I think it's because of my INTJ (Architect) personality that I just enjoy planning stuff out. It's just that I was impressed and disappointed to find that it wasn't really going to help me be more productive. I should have always just done it for the fun of it from the start. This is what I wasn't getting at the beginning.
And I don't think that the solution to all of our misery is to just accept things as they come to us in life and do nothing about it. We should do so when there's really no other option. But it can't be denied that action is necessary for change and that change is a precursor for improvement. Whenever you find yourself putting off something because you're setting up your productivity first, just do the thing and remember: "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good".
What Does Work
It's not that everything about productivity is useless misguidance. What kinds of things actually work and save you time when it's time to act? If the productivity tip takes close to no time to implement and you already have everything available to use it, there's a good chance that it's worth learning about it. Here are a couple of tips I can confirm will save you time so you can spend it doing the things you enjoy doing the most!
One of the best tips that has probably saved me countless hours is to sometimes watch videos at twice the speed. This is especially true when reviewing learning content. So what gives? As always, reality resists the elegant ways of simplicity and favors the nuanced and complex: Truth shines in the balance of things.
I agree with self-made millionaire Sam Ovens when he says that the secret to productivity is not to do more, it's to do less. Ironically, as I've come to learn, the most productive way to type is not to type at all (i.e. use Voice Typing instead of actually typing yourself).
In his video, Sam describes how putting our energy into multiple things (doing more) actually leads to worse results than if we just did one thing (doing less) very well. He shows us how he has even freed himself from choosing what he will eat and how he should exercise to focus on his business. While not everyone can hire a personal trainer and chef, we can prepare our meals and workout sessions every weekend.
Bonus Tip: If you love optimizing and planning (like me), maybe try playing a 4X game like Civilization to let out that beautiful part of yourself be expressed. This will be much better than if you try to become more productive for the wrong reasons.
The Bottom Line
Try to think more than you act. Doing nothing may be the right answer more often than you think. This can seem paradoxical.
Productivity is often a hidden coping mechanism for not doing the things we should just be doing. We are often scared of doing a poor job. And so we try to appeal to perfection, which only stalls the inevitable.
How are we supposed to know when we should act to improve our situation and when we should just let things be? First, don't act. Just think. Set aside some time to do this deliberately (probably for approx. 90 minutes). Then, ask yourself: "Can I really change my situation for the better?". If you can't, work on accepting the present, journal, meditate. If you can, devise a plan. Remember: failing to plan is planning to fail. Execute. Above all things, don't be too hard on yourself! Pay attention and try to do things just for the fun of it. And yes, that's easier said than done. But that's just how life is! :)