work / life

I got this lecture announcement the other day.

Professor Balbus argues that the modern cycle of compulsive production and consumption can usefully be understood as a cultural defense against depressive anxiety and guilt and that a reparative response to that anxiety and guilt is the key to a more mature relationship to our world and our products.

Although I wasn’t able to attend, it got me thinking about “compulsive production” and how it relates to my life. I’ve been “Getting Things Done” for 9 months or so and reading up on productivity - (43 Folders, Life Hacker). I spend quite a bit of time working, but that’s just what you do in grad school. I suppose why this struck me is that when I have a particularly unproductive day or two I feel anxious and guilty about it.

My first semester of grad school, before GTD, I was much more stressed. I would live just focusing on the week ahead and what I had to do for school. I was always conscious that I was forgetting the rest of my life–those dishes, that laundry, my wedding plans. The reason I started GTD was that the focus is on being productive in order to free yourself of anxiety and guilt, AKA stress. I have more time for things I want to do now that I have a clearer picture of everything on my plate.

I think, and perhaps Professor Balbus would agree, that this is a reparative response to compulsive production.

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You’re currently reading “work / life,” an entry in technology and the social, the blog of Ericka Menchen Trevino

Published:: 09.17.05

Tags: Life

Merlin 09.17.05 / 9am

This is great, Ericka. If you go to the lecture, I’d love to hear what you think.

Merlin 09.17.05 / 11am

Errr–sorry I missed the part where you didn’t go. I need a coffee.

David Brake 09.18.05 / 3am

It sounds like a fascinating lecture. Do you know if he has written anything on the web about the subject? I wasn’t able to find anything by Googling… (Is it Ike Balbus?)

Ericka 09.18.05 / 8am

David:

>ISAAC BALBUS
>Professor of Political Science
>Mourning and Modernity: Essays in the Psychoanalysis of
>Contemporary Society (Other Press, New York, August 2005)
>
>”Toward a Green Recovery: Thoughts on the Relationship Between Deep
>Ecology and 12-Step Recovery Programs”

Recent Side Links: 2005-09-20 | 43 Folders 09.19.06 / 2pm

[...] Crazy experiment. For the occasional benefit of the RSS-only visitors (and maybe even you): the last 10 links posted to the 43F siderail. Webzine 2005 | San Francisco, Sept. 24-25 | Independent Online Publishing Conference - Coming this weekend. (Sep 20)Stefan Sagmeister (kottke.org) - “thinking life will be better in the future is stupid. i have to live now” (Sep 19)How to Remove a Hickie - WikiHow - “3. In the future, give hickies where they won’t be easily found.” (Sep 19)Google Groups : 43 Folders [Top ten GTD tools] - my brain; my hands; a pen; [paper]; trash can; to-do list; calendar; [alarms]; magnets; the word “no” (Sep 18)Great Shaving Lather - Fast and Easy - “Don’t short-change yourself on shave quality by skimping on the preparation.” (Sep 17)Conference convo [Scribbling.net] - “Her: F*k that. Do it! They need more people there like you. Me: You mean people with breasts?” (Sep 17)Justin Blanton | Footnotes and Textpander - So clever, and a great use of the app. I love whenever I can bring bash-like automation and filtering to GUI apps. (Sep 17)Help: weed related sloth / amotivational syndrome . | Ask MetaFilter - Getting it together after a weed-induced torpor. (Sep 17)A Dictionary of Bokononism - “busy, busy, busy: What bokononists whisper whenever they think of how complicated and unpredictable the machinery of life really is.” (Sep 17)technology and the social - work / life - I think Professor Balbus nailed it. (Although “production” can mean a *lot of things–def. not just the number of widgets you turn out for The Man). (Sep 17) [...]

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