Beware of the non-work

Sunday, April 24, 2011

I felt really productive yesterday. I’d spent about an hour and a bit doing work, and I really felt as though I had accomplished something. I felt a level of satisfaction that meant I could spend an hour or so playing games, or writing poems, or talking to a friend.

The feeling soon subsided.

I took a look back over what I’d done, and the feeling of satisfaction turned to a feeling of great fear. The time I’d spent “working” was spent doing ‘non-work’: the silly administrative tasks that you do to make you feel better about the fact that you haven’t done what you were supposed to. I ruled lines, I dated things, I rewrote notes, I cleaned out my school books, I check my todo list, I cleaned my todo list, and then I went through my inbox, when I should have been writing a 1500 word essay.

Please, beware of the non-work. Make sure that when you’re being productive, you’re actually being productive.