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NYTimes need to stop these self-help smarter living junk science articles. This article isn't helping you relax, it's helping you become a more efficient worker

NYTimes need to stop these self-help smarter living junk science articles. This article isn't helping you relax, it's helping you become a more efficient worker bee: "daydreaming — an inevitable effect of idleness — “literally makes us more creative, better at problem-solving, better at coming up with creative ideas.” So the article is not advocating that we should relax more for our mental health or enjoyment, just that if we do relax a bit, we'll get much more done when we're not relaxing... i.e., "spend your weekends meditating so you'll be more productive during the week".

Bootwizard 7y ago
Work doesn't have to mean your fulltime job. Work can mean a side project that you're passionate about, or a side business. When is being more efficient at anything a bad idea? If you can get your day job done in 2 hours vs 8, maybe you can argue for a raise or the ability to work from home.
- coldtea 7y ago
  >When is being more efficient at anything a bad idea? When it drives people to stress, burnout, obsession, losing connection with family and friends, and so on... In other words, today...
  - Bootwizard 7y ago
    If you've efficient you shouldn't try to keep up the same hours. That's just multiplying the work you're doing by your increase in efficiency. If you work 5x as fast as everyone else, but work the same hours, you're doing 5x as much work. I'm suggesting to work more efficient as well as work less hours. Then you have more time to spend on relaxation and the things you want to do. That is how this modern society should view work, but we don't
    - coldtea 7y ago
      My point is being efficient and wanting to be efficient or being obsessed with efficiency are not the same thing. So while already "being more efficient at anything" is not bad, the idea of "being more efficient at anything" can be a very bad idea, downright to killing people...
otakucode 7y ago
That is the only way to sell recreation or relaxation to Americans. Benefiting yourself or pursuing pleasure always has to be justified. I can't recall the source, but I read a long and insightful article about this specifically and the difference in viewpoint between Americans and most Europeans. It explains why some products and trends perform differently across those places despite so much else being shared.
- copperx 7y ago
  > Benefiting yourself [...] always has to be justified. Do we live in different Americas? Benefiting yourself is revered in America, in my experience.
  - otakucode 7y ago
    I can't think of any situations where self-benefit, when not justified by claims it will make you more able to function as a worker or 'contribute to society' (aka an employer), isn't laced with implications of inherent immorality, assumptions of damaging health, etc. If food is delicious, it must be unhealthy. If an innovation makes things easier, it must be dangerous. If something is fun, it is probably addictive. If something is addictive, it is inherently immoral and bad. If you pursue pleasure, you are self-destructive. Yes, if you take up exercise and yoga and healthy eating, that could be seen as 'benefitting yourself'.... but it is OK only because those things are cloaked suffering. They're things you don't want to do, they cause pain or discomfort and involve avoiding doing the things you would prefer to do. I am open to a counterpoint. I might just not be thinking of something where doing something pleasurable because you care for it for your own benefit is seen as a positive, something a mother would love to hear her child is pursuing, something that would be met with people at a party saying 'good for you!' that is, at the bottom of it, just fun.

Bootwizard 7y ago

Work doesn't have to mean your fulltime job. Work can mean a side project that you're passionate about, or a side business. When is being more efficient at anything a bad idea? If you can get your day job done in 2 hours vs 8, maybe you can argue for a raise or the ability to work from home.

coldtea 7y ago
>When is being more efficient at anything a bad idea? When it drives people to stress, burnout, obsession, losing connection with family and friends, and so on... In other words, today...
- Bootwizard 7y ago
  If you've efficient you shouldn't try to keep up the same hours. That's just multiplying the work you're doing by your increase in efficiency. If you work 5x as fast as everyone else, but work the same hours, you're doing 5x as much work. I'm suggesting to work more efficient as well as work less hours. Then you have more time to spend on relaxation and the things you want to do. That is how this modern society should view work, but we don't
  - coldtea 7y ago
    My point is being efficient and wanting to be efficient or being obsessed with efficiency are not the same thing. So while already "being more efficient at anything" is not bad, the idea of "being more efficient at anything" can be a very bad idea, downright to killing people...

otakucode 7y ago

That is the only way to sell recreation or relaxation to Americans. Benefiting yourself or pursuing pleasure always has to be justified. I can't recall the source, but I read a long and insightful article about this specifically and the difference in viewpoint between Americans and most Europeans. It explains why some products and trends perform differently across those places despite so much else being shared.

copperx 7y ago
> Benefiting yourself [...] always has to be justified. Do we live in different Americas? Benefiting yourself is revered in America, in my experience.
- otakucode 7y ago
  I can't think of any situations where self-benefit, when not justified by claims it will make you more able to function as a worker or 'contribute to society' (aka an employer), isn't laced with implications of inherent immorality, assumptions of damaging health, etc. If food is delicious, it must be unhealthy. If an innovation makes things easier, it must be dangerous. If something is fun, it is probably addictive. If something is addictive, it is inherently immoral and bad. If you pursue pleasure, you are self-destructive. Yes, if you take up exercise and yoga and healthy eating, that could be seen as 'benefitting yourself'.... but it is OK only because those things are cloaked suffering. They're things you don't want to do, they cause pain or discomfort and involve avoiding doing the things you would prefer to do. I am open to a counterpoint. I might just not be thinking of something where doing something pleasurable because you care for it for your own benefit is seen as a positive, something a mother would love to hear her child is pursuing, something that would be met with people at a party saying 'good for you!' that is, at the bottom of it, just fun.