Against Anti-Productivity

Look, if you're a home right now, you're lucky. Granted, it can be hard to do anything! The terrible news is mounting, the government is incapable, we are suddenly faced with the details of our mundane lives that we usually distract ourselves enough to ignore.

So should we be productive during quarantine? And if not, should we feel bad about it? These publications have kept themselves busy generating content about productivity itself, namely how it's not a big deal, since staying at home is work enough in itself:

Against Productivity in a Pandemic (The New Republic)

Stop Trying to Be Productive (New York Times)

No One Should Worry About Working Out Right Now (Vice)

Enjoy your cool, productive lockdown — I’ll be over here, eating trash and panicking (New York Post) (great headline)

Now Is Not the Time to Obsess About Productivity (Forge)

Blogging productivity has clearly not been impacted. Journalists are kind of the worst test-subjects for quarantine. Our job is to pay attention to whatever's going on, to endlessly harp on the latest news, idea, meme, take, whatever. So maroon us all in our homes without anyone else to observe while every editor and publication are focused on the same, giant story, and the result is a total echo chamber. Twitter is now actually the world. 

Besides actually important reporting, coronavirus content falls into two easy categories: what to consume and how to behave in quarantine. The former is all Netflix series, bread recipes, and obscure podcasts and the latter an advice column in which everyone is asking the same questions. Is it too much to ask for some counterprogramming? 

While staying home, washing my hands, and fretting, I also want to accomplish at least something interesting. Accepting unproductivity while others risk their lives for our safety, or even debating the same, is an indulgence of bored writers, of which I am one.