[_rupertius]

I think this article misunderstands what productivity is and is trying to achieve.

Productivity is about achieving your goals with as little waste as possible, and getting things done. It's not about deciding what those goals are. That's not a slight on productivity, it's just what the word means.

This article isn't talking about productivity, it's talking about meaning & fulfilment. But the idea that deciding what you want out of your own life is some new thing (a "3.0" as opposed to something humans have been concerned about since the dawn of time) is a mistake.

So... I'm not sure if it really says anything.

[cratermoon]

What's the point of being productive without meaning and fulfillment?

[chii]

meaningfulness is for yourself. Productivity is for other people asking you to achieve a goal (and you measure this productivity with money earned).

You could be doing meaningful stuff for yourself, like a starving artist. It is not productive, if other people do not pay you for your art work.

You could be doing very productive work, but not meaningful (for yourself).

[slightwinder]

> Productivity is for other people asking you to achieve a goal

Productivity is a measurement for any work, independent of the season why one executes this work. You can be productive for your own tasks, or the tasks for someone else, it still could be measured and evaluated.

> and you measure this productivity with money earned

No, you do not. Money can be a viable metric, but most often wage and productivity have not direct correlation in most jobs today. This is a typical misconception.

[chii]

> This is a typical misconception.

it's not a misconception. Many productivity measurement metrics are very subjective, except for money paid for work.

Productivity is correlated to the job being done, but only under free market competition conditions, and that all participants have similar bargaining power. Otherwise, slavery is highly productive, but the monies paid is next to zero. But you can use the sold-price of the goods to determine productivity, instead of the wages. So money is still a good measurement, even in the degenerate case.

[slightwinder]

"Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure."

The meaning and fulfillment is given by the metric by which you measure, nothing more. Productivity is basically just a tool, it has no greater meaning by itself.

[itisit]

The boss would prefer you don’t ask such pesky questions.

[afarrell]

The boss would prefer you ask such questions of your coach, therapist, or friends — they are not in a good place to give you the answer.

[cratermoon]

The boss doesn't care if you're productive, he just wants you to be busy.

[TeMPOraL]

That's like asking, what's the point of knowing how to drive a car without having anywhere to travel at the moment.