The paradox of productivity

As my headphones blare with the sound of yet another Ted talk telling me how to juice my day by the seconds, I yawn and pull the blanket towards my torso. Suddenly I feel ashamed of myself, am I being blasphemous to the whole doctrine of productivity?

But then, an even more sacrilegious thought comes to my head. What if this whole spectacle of extreme productivity is a scam?

Now, at this crucial point of questioning, I start to feel rue about my thoughts. I need to cleanse my mind. Is there such a thing resembling the holy water in the faith of productivity that can wash away my impure thinking? A protein shake perhaps? 

But maybe it was the rebel in me, or maybe it was just out of utter boredom, I began to look (and think) more into this. 

Especially during this lockdown, we are constantly being taught to learn, embellish and re-kindle every skill to ever exist on the face of mother earth. We must all be noob designers and excel at excel! 

Now, am I justifying my life motto of 'move only if your house is on fire' by saying such things, or discouraging anyone who is actually interested in learning these skills? No.

My curiosity rather lies on the creatures who are the preachers of this faith. These holy highnesses feel the need to label time as a currency, and look down upon whoever "wastes" it by their definition. Even during an unprecedented vacation such as this quarantine, they guilt people into not being a workaholic in absence of actual work!  

The "policing" of one's time becomes so literal, as they run "sting" operations on every breath one takes, every move one makes….                                                                                                                                           

Saw it from miles away? Yes, I will take the blame for this lazy joke. However, I do not plan to perfect my humor to act and make it a valuable "asset", because not all things in life are meant to be met with remuneration, in the currency of paper money or virtual validation. 

It is okay to spend the time designated for leisure in leisure! There is a saying in Italy, "La Dolce Far Niente", which translates to "the sweetness of doing nothing." 

Your time right now, is not owned by anyone but you, it is indeed your "free time". It is not far from a stretch, if you think in this lifetime you will not get many opportunities like this. 

So if you do want to spend your time, drawing on illustrator out of artistic urges or learn excel just for the sake of it, be my guest. 

But do not be a prisoner of guilt if you catch yourself daydreaming and doing just that, in a time as haywire as this. 

You are not an appliance made for ultimate level of productivity; your parts do not need greasing all the time. Spare your spare times missy! 

In the words of the great George Macdonald, from his book Wilfrid Cumbermede,                              

"Certainly work is not always required of a man. There is such a thing as a sacred idleness, the cultivation of which is now fearfully neglected."