Knowledge workers produce value through intellectual effort rather than physical outputs, making productivity assessment challenging. Unlike traditional laborers, they do not end their day with quantifiable products, complicating metrics for evaluating their performance. For instance, in podcast production, productivity could be measured through various metrics like episode quantity, length, ad revenue, or listener engagement. These differing options highlight that productivity in knowledge work lacks direct feedback and defined standards, leading to questions about time allocation and personal work processes. Each knowledge worker engages with distinct tasks, fostering a unique and individualized approach to their work, unlike more structured fields.
By 2030 we'll only work 15 hours a week, predicted the legendary economist John Maynard Keynes back in 1930. He thought advances in technology and wealth would let us earn enough money to live in a day or two - leaving the rest of the week for leisure and community service.
How wrong he was. We seem to be working more than ever - with technology adding extra tasks to our workdays (like answering emails and monitoring Slack). Dr Laurie longs for more leisure time, but how can she tame her fear of being "unproductive"?
Computer scientist Cal Newport explains how we all got into this mess - and why we still treat modern employees as if they were farm laborers or assembly line workers. Reformed "productivity junkie" Oliver Burkeman also offers tips on how to concentrate our minds on fulfilling and important work - and not little tasks that chew up so much of our days.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.