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Counterproductive: Time Management in the Knowledge Economy
As online distractions increasingly colonize our time, why has productivity become such a vital demonstration of personal and professional competence? When corporate profits are soaring but worker salaries remain stagnant, how does technology exacerbate the demand for ever greater productivity? In Counterproductive Melissa Gregg explores how productivity emerged as a way of thinking about job performance at the turn of the last century and why it remains prominent in the different work worlds of today. Examining historical and archival material alongside popular self-help genres—from housekeeping manuals to bootstrapping business gurus, and the growing interest in productivity and mindfulness software—Gregg shows how a focus on productivity isolates workers from one another and erases their collective efforts to define work limits. Questioning our faith in productivity as the ultimate measure of success, Gregg's novel analysis conveys the futility, pointlessness, and danger of seeking time management as a salve for the always-on workplace.
216 pages, Paperback
Published November 23, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 20, 2020
A fascinating and necessary counterpoint to the cult of productivity that convinced many of us who came of age during the rise of the blogosphere not just that a worker’s output equals their human worth, but that the morally necessary project of self-improvement requires a singleminded focus on efficiency of work over the work itself.
January 11, 2020
Loved this. Really digging the examination of time management from a feminist perspective.
November 16, 2020
There are a lot of real problems with the current common view of productivity. There is also a lot that can be said about the organizational structure and management of IT firms from gender studies/feminism perspective.
The problem is that this book does not say any of it. In the place of that, you get the author dissing perfectly reasonable things such as:
one-on-ones (managers exerting power on weaker employees?)
blocking time for yourself (very, very selfish)
and, you know, blocking programs for social media (enables you to ignore friends??)
If I install a Facebook blocker, I do not do it out of a spirit of Catholic asceticism, I just find it very hard to quit checking Facebook otherwise. Like, be reasonable, those things are addictive af, and they are designed that way. Would you say the same thing about gambling addicts that blacklist themselves??
The author also tends to repeat the same thing over and over again, sprinkled with facts that should somehow support her thesis, while the connection between facts and arguments is not drawn up. In fact, the arguments are quite hard to find either.
I didn't know about the housewife management book history, and the Sloterdijk book that she references sounds interesting since there is definitely some connection between self-improvement, athlecitism, and productivity.
But this is not the book that will enlighten that connection. It is a horrible book. DNF at 100 pages, truly a counterproductive read.
The problem is that this book does not say any of it. In the place of that, you get the author dissing perfectly reasonable things such as:
one-on-ones (managers exerting power on weaker employees?)
blocking time for yourself (very, very selfish)
and, you know, blocking programs for social media (enables you to ignore friends??)
If I install a Facebook blocker, I do not do it out of a spirit of Catholic asceticism, I just find it very hard to quit checking Facebook otherwise. Like, be reasonable, those things are addictive af, and they are designed that way. Would you say the same thing about gambling addicts that blacklist themselves??
The author also tends to repeat the same thing over and over again, sprinkled with facts that should somehow support her thesis, while the connection between facts and arguments is not drawn up. In fact, the arguments are quite hard to find either.
I didn't know about the housewife management book history, and the Sloterdijk book that she references sounds interesting since there is definitely some connection between self-improvement, athlecitism, and productivity.
But this is not the book that will enlighten that connection. It is a horrible book. DNF at 100 pages, truly a counterproductive read.
February 25, 2023
I'll be thinking about this feminist deconstruction of the productivity mindset for a long time.
February 9, 2022
This book is the first academic book I've read in a while that I genuinely was so entranced with and enjoyed. There are deep insights in this book and such fascinating research. I love the feminist, critical perspectives here and the critique of the co-opting of mindfulness practice by corporate productivity cultures. It's also well written and accessible. I love her definition that she returns to over and over about how labor organizing is about setting work limits and turning us toward the social and not away from it. How knowledge economy work is asocial. Woof. So many insights. I give it 4 stars because of the sort of naive utopian conclusion she arrives at. She nods to the white, wealthy realities of spaces like We Work etc but it feels like the social imaginary there is a bit short. I guess I sort of still believe that capitalism will do whatever it has to do, engage us in all these new and creative ways that make us think we are autonomous and now it's telling us that things like coop workspaces are the way, except they aren't actually coops. Anyway. This book was brilliant 95% of the time!
March 25, 2019
A good historical overview of how we have thought about time management and productivity in the past century in this country (and how these concepts of productivity have served to isolate and hinder us), and and a very thoughtful treatise on what work means in today's world and how our concept and implementation of work might evolve in the future. Fascinating.
July 9, 2021
Dense and academic yet essential reading for knowledge workers, with some really great look into the emergence of ~productivity~ ideals emerging in the West and sharp analysis of their impact.
October 9, 2023
There have been numerous studies on the declining work stability and changes in the continuous structure of labor under capitalism. Gregg's examination addresses methods used to change and improve workers' productivity through in-depth analysis of historical records and widely used effectiveness tool formats. Utilizing her sociology training and in-depth research, she explores the complex ways that time management techniques can operate against staff in the work environment.
By challenging readers to consider ways to organize their time in the context of intellectual work, where adaptability, working together, and innovation are essential elements, the author encourages a change in mindset. The book is divided into three sections, which are Theory, Practice, and Anthropotechnics, and gives the reader a full review of several strategies for enhancing and understanding the productivity of employees, ranging from time and motion studies to the use of technology. Gregg also explores how stress and burnout have been brought about by the pressure of time in the overall work culture. This being the major theme of the book, the thesis argues for the demand for a broader view of time in the modern work scope. She emphasizes the need to acknowledge the inherent uncertainties in intellectual work and strongly advocates for flexibility. Gregg expresses a move toward specific solutions for fixing unemployment linked to work life throughout the whole book. Nonetheless, in her research, the author is not only engaged in critical analysis of time management practices but also post-work productivity. Even with that said, the author is involved in a critical review of post-work productivity in addition to time management techniques.
Personally, I think this book's greatest strength is its capacity to combine solid academic research with clear communication. This makes it a good read for a variety of people, including professionals and everyday readers. Most of us experience constant job overload and have trouble managing our time. Since the social has gradually been eliminated from the motivational books and methods of productivity she examines, knowledge workers' social assessment of the societal and economic circumstances that organize their and others' labor as well as their community's a common goal for social solutions have also been eliminated. Another plus is how different voices were included. Gregg doesn't confine her investigation to a particular group of people or sector. She accepts the intersectionality of time management difficulties and instead enjoys a wide range of experiences.
Gregg deviates from the usual kind of critical criticism in education by challenging us to consider what alternative work environment may be. A first step towards larger social efforts that revive labor and convert it into the desires of all employees is a reflective socio-historical understanding of how we came to today's hyper-individualistic urge to be productive in our employment.
By challenging readers to consider ways to organize their time in the context of intellectual work, where adaptability, working together, and innovation are essential elements, the author encourages a change in mindset. The book is divided into three sections, which are Theory, Practice, and Anthropotechnics, and gives the reader a full review of several strategies for enhancing and understanding the productivity of employees, ranging from time and motion studies to the use of technology. Gregg also explores how stress and burnout have been brought about by the pressure of time in the overall work culture. This being the major theme of the book, the thesis argues for the demand for a broader view of time in the modern work scope. She emphasizes the need to acknowledge the inherent uncertainties in intellectual work and strongly advocates for flexibility. Gregg expresses a move toward specific solutions for fixing unemployment linked to work life throughout the whole book. Nonetheless, in her research, the author is not only engaged in critical analysis of time management practices but also post-work productivity. Even with that said, the author is involved in a critical review of post-work productivity in addition to time management techniques.
Personally, I think this book's greatest strength is its capacity to combine solid academic research with clear communication. This makes it a good read for a variety of people, including professionals and everyday readers. Most of us experience constant job overload and have trouble managing our time. Since the social has gradually been eliminated from the motivational books and methods of productivity she examines, knowledge workers' social assessment of the societal and economic circumstances that organize their and others' labor as well as their community's a common goal for social solutions have also been eliminated. Another plus is how different voices were included. Gregg doesn't confine her investigation to a particular group of people or sector. She accepts the intersectionality of time management difficulties and instead enjoys a wide range of experiences.
Gregg deviates from the usual kind of critical criticism in education by challenging us to consider what alternative work environment may be. A first step towards larger social efforts that revive labor and convert it into the desires of all employees is a reflective socio-historical understanding of how we came to today's hyper-individualistic urge to be productive in our employment.
October 10, 2021
A thought provoking look on productivity, organizational management and time management through a feminism perspective. Productivity is chain in itself as management and you, yourself, are the lock. The sense of personal accomplishment and the unreal goal of management to get relentless labor out of every second you can and should give to win an never-ending battle of being productive. The exploitation and the privilege of being exploited is only provided to the most productive individual. Time is power and time management is the key to control that power. It is a release yet a chain when management is all for profit while your well-being is second class, at the minimum.
How can you free yourself of being productive while being a slave to productivity when capitalistic management is here, doing its best, to get every juice out of last year's productivity theory while the world is changing from the workplace, to technology, to human relations, to home? Although, some of the stories and examples feels like simple solutions and some are, in relation to self control, they are real situation that people encounter.
It could've been a 4 stars, but the writing feels a bit condescending as it feels fluff with big words and a variety of word combinations. I often felt confused by what the author is trying to say, until it look it up or reread it enough to understand. This does not, however, derails how interesting the main objective of this book is.
How can you free yourself of being productive while being a slave to productivity when capitalistic management is here, doing its best, to get every juice out of last year's productivity theory while the world is changing from the workplace, to technology, to human relations, to home? Although, some of the stories and examples feels like simple solutions and some are, in relation to self control, they are real situation that people encounter.
It could've been a 4 stars, but the writing feels a bit condescending as it feels fluff with big words and a variety of word combinations. I often felt confused by what the author is trying to say, until it look it up or reread it enough to understand. This does not, however, derails how interesting the main objective of this book is.
February 13, 2021
The author uses the term “myopia of knowledge work”; “myopic” is how I would characterize much of the critique of time management in this book. If you can pretend intersectionality and wealth are not real things, and get over the defense of co-working spaces and Daybreaker that undermine basically the whole book at the end, I suppose there’s a neat (as in tidy) little history of productivity to be gleaned.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews