How To Be Unproductive

Productivity is considered a good thing. It builds bridges, crosses gaps, creates religions, and in general makes everyone feel good about themselves. If you're not productive, you are considered lazy, a slacker, a good-for-nothing, and an overall bum. The problem is that with the advent of television shows depicting people working, the internet, and cell phones that do more than make calls, being productive in this world is damn hard; nearly everyone I know has ADD, simply because they never learned discipline.

Speaking of reality TV shows, why *do* we have this preoccupation with watching people performing in their occupation of choice? It started, I think, with Deadliest Catch. Then it was Pawn Stars, then Cake Boss, then Auction Your Shit, then Storage Wars. At first, these shows were interesting. Even I'll admit that I found Pawn Stars to be fascinating not because of the individuals who work in the shop, but because of the pieces of history and Americana that often find their way into that particular shop. It's a small history lesson every episode, which is more than most shows can say.

Still, what the hell? What is there to learn from Storage Wars, or Ice Road Truckers? Oh, and Army Wives! Who the hell wants to watch a bunch of military wives whine about how their husbands volunteered for service during war time and were shipped out? Have we become so devoid of actual culture that we actually enjoy sitting on our asses watching television that has no purpose other than to brain drain?

The Internet, once a place of learning and always the porn capital of the universe, is of even less help. It is chock full of websites that will suck out your brain and dull your senses. There's nothing positive to gain from a website such as Facebook that doesn't equate to masturbation - doing something exclusively to feel better about yourself. I'll admit that the Internet has absolutely ruined any sense of self-discipline and imagination that I once possessed.

I used to be thrilled at the idea of writing. I remember when I'd take my mother's electronic typewriter so that I could write my Star Wars fan fiction (Rogue Squadron, bitches) more readily. It never got anywhere, and I'm sure the pages are long gone, but I still remember writing it, and being happy about it. I used to fill notebooks, especially in high school, with theories, philosophies, stories, poetry, and musings. Now I appear to only collect notebooks, with multiple pages left blank for years. Even my regular moleskin gets little to no love for me, and well over 3/4 of it is blank. The only writing I do is the occasional blog post and D&D adventures, which I admit is better than nothing and lets me dip into that fantasyland I've been hiding for ten years.

Even my appetite for reading has lessened. I used to devour books, mostly fiction, and as I grew older I wound up having an intense dislike for fiction and moved on to nonfiction. But still, I read less than I should or than I'd like, but I have trouble making a conscious effort to do so. I have a reading list longer than I'd like to admit. Hell, I still want to reread John Adams by David McCullough, but I doubt I'll ever get around to it. Frankly put, my discipline is in a sad state, and I think almost the entire world under the age of 40 is in the same boat.

It's easy to blame external sources for our lack of productivity, but what's really to blame? The Internet, TV, cell phones, and video games? Doubtful. For everything these things have done to ruin us, we've no one to blame but ourselves for our lack of discipline. Hear that? It's your own damn fault you can find nothing better to do but rot in front of your TV or computer screen.

If you want to be productive, step away from the internet, turn the TV off, and go do something. Force yourself past that initial point of resistance, and continue to do so every time you hit that all-too-familiar roadblock of laze and procrastination. It's the only thing that will save you from having a biography that reads "He played video games, watched TV, and converted oxygen to carbon dioxide. I suppose he was an alright guy."