Beware of performative pseudo-productivity.
Stephen King wrote his first two published novels, Carrie and ‘Salem’s Lot, in the laundry room of a double-wide trailer, “pounding away on my wife’s portable Olivetti typewriter and balancing a child’s desk on my thighs.” (On Writing)
The dude didn’t even have an actual desk!
“Everyone wants the romantic elements. ‘I have a beautiful idea notebook […] and I spend 10 minutes Instagramming a photo of my earthenware mug.’”
-Cal Newport’s Deep Questions Podcast, Episode 317
In 1972, Stephen King couldn’t scroll on his phone and post “content” for four hours a day. He didn’t have followers. But even if he did, his activity couldn’t be curated as a performance — it would be called boring. He simply sat alone and did the job: he used his imagination and typed words. To this day, when he does the most valuable thing for his career, it looks like nothing is happening.
(If he had access to Twitter in the early days, I wonder if he would have gotten his career off the ground. But it’s obvious his 65 novels would do just fine without.)
It can’t hurt to have a proper workspace, and it can make you feel nice and professional. But it’s easy to get sidetracked by the things that aren’t actually the work. It’s better to prioritize getting the most important results, not how pretty your desk looks on Instagram.
I think of these things as ‘isms — vaguely related behaviors that aren’t necessary to the output. “Dressing like a writer” (what would that even mean?) does not cause writing to happen. It’s similar to the cargo cult phenomenon.
Why not just do the thing? And get really good at it?
Earlier in the episode, Cal went on an epic rant about the time and creative energy we waste on social media. I’ve edited it for reading clarity:
“If you’re looking at your phone all the time… if you’re looking at highly engaging, addictive social platforms all the time, it’s stealing the brain cycles you need to actually build the cool thing and craft the cool life. I’m talking about TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube recommendation wandering. These tools trick you into believing you’re productive. If you’re in a creative field, they have an insidious way of convincing you that spending time on them is actually part of building your career.
“You say, ‘Look, I’m not just being distracted. I’m on here posting and engaging because this is a key part of doing something creative.’ They convince you that one or two hours a day is productive because it’s fun. You think you’re doing work — and it feels like the best, most fun work you’ve ever done because it doesn’t require you to concentrate. It’s interesting and it’s low friction. It’s high energy, and you can check things off. You think, ‘I’ve been maximizing my accounts. I’m doing these Twitter threads that people told me I need to do. And I took an online course that said, This is how I’m going to build up an audience.’
“But you’re not being savvy. You’re clocking into a factory that’s owned by Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. You’re clocking into their factory to do your shift, but they’re not sending you a paycheck. Don’t let these companies steal that energy from you. They have enough money.”