It's the lesser of 2 evils. At least I'm learning when I'm consuming content that surrounds my work/lifestyle goals rather than just mindlessly scrolling through content that doesn't help me at all.
Agreed. This thread is filled with people who are confusing "consuming productivity content" with "actively being productive". It is one thing to discount reading blogs about time-tracking, efficiency and scheduling instead of implementing it in your daily life. It is quite another to discount the habits of productive people. To write those off en masse is to ignore the very real and obvious gradation of effectiveness we see in those around us.
There are two counter-points that are often dismissed. The first is that if you haven't encountered the concepts, you aren't likely to stumble upon them without searching. Learning to plan and organize your behavior is no different from learning the fundamentals of any other skill.
The second is precisely your point. Our thoughts and behaviors are driven by context. Given a person reading a blog about time-tracking and a person who-knows-where on an infinite social media scroll, who is more likely to close their browser and do whatever they feel is most important? I know who I would bet on.
I think there is truth to the idea that someone who is actually implementing these systems, even half-heartedly, is at least putting in some effort towards whatever their goals is. However, I don’t think the following is so clear-cut.
> who is more likely to close their browser and do whatever they feel is most important? I know who I would bet on.
Immersing oneself in productivity lifehacks is often a good way to feel productive without actually being so. So I don’t think either person stands to have a greater chance than the other towards getting back to work.
I think there’s a spectrum here on the one end you could be doing the work on the other end doing something that’s completely procrastinating like watching unrelated TikTok videos. And doing the work isn’t necessarily always best because you might actually benefit from some learning. That learning is probably not best consumed as a daily hours long habitual binge of productivity porn, that’s only slightly better than watching random TikTok.
Are you really learning though? Or are you reaping the rewards of imagining that you are improving by "consuming content"?
Of the last 500 things you read, how many changes have you implemented and sustained?
If your answers to those questions are similar to mine (the latter, and near zero) then I think one is actually better off letting go and just laughing at cat gifs.
