{"id":11483,"date":"2020-01-20T12:19:42","date_gmt":"2020-01-20T20:19:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/?p=11483"},"modified":"2020-04-24T01:19:35","modified_gmt":"2020-04-24T09:19:35","slug":"lazy-productivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/20\/lazy-productivity\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven Habits that Seem Lazy (but Actually Let You Get More Done)"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1850, French economist Claude-Fr\u00c3\u00a9d\u00c3\u00a9ric Bastiat published his famous essay<\/a>, \u201cCe qu’on voit et ce qu’on ne voit pas<\/em>\u201d or, \u201cWhat is seen and what is unseen.\u201d In it, he argues against the \u201cbad economist\u201d who looks only to the initial effect of actions taken, and not their further consequences.<\/p>\n

Bastiat uses the example of a broken shop window. To repair the window, the shop owner has to hire a glass maker. Now the glass maker has money, and can use it to buy further things. Thus, the economy has improved, has it not?<\/p>\n

But this only notes the seen, the money spent and glass maker employed, and not the unseen, what could have been bought with the money instead. A bad economist reasons from the seen and argues that we ought to break windows to stimulate the economy. The wise economist knows that breaking things makes people worse off.<\/p>\n

That breaking windows is counterproductive is hardly surprising. Yet, in our working lives, many of us are exactly the bad economists Bastiat warned against. We focus on being visibly productive, often subtly undermining the unseen ability to do important work.<\/p>\n

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Consider the person who stays late at the office every night, to show everyone what a \u201cteam player\u201d he is. Except, this causes him to sleep less which makes him sluggish. He misses time spent with colleagues, who would have recommended him for projects and promotions. He never has time to think, and thus fails to think of brilliant ideas that would propel him forward. Despite his drudgery, his lack of progress only convinces him that he has failed to work hard enough.<\/p>\n

Today, I\u2019d like to consider Bastiat\u2019s question as it applies to our work. What are the unseen factors that influence our productivity so that something that looks lazy actually gets results?<\/p>\n

1. Actually getting enough sleep.<\/h2>\n
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