Unproductive pursuits

I think that not everything we do need to be “productive” in the conventional sense. To me, part of the joy in life comes from reading a great novel, watching a great movie, playing a challenging game, and often sharing such experiences with friends.

Certainly, we should safeguard against the human bias towards instant gratification. A good litmus test would be to ask: “In the future, will I regret what I’m about to do?” If the answer is no, then my advice is to go for it - even if other people might consider it a waste of time.

Actually, I would argue that the above advice could be more accurate. A better test might be to ask: “In the future, will I remember positively what I’m about to do?”

Of course, we remember the major life events. In my case, I clearly remember the engagement party I planned almost four years ago and the days in the hospital with my wife before my daughter was born. However, I also remember more mundane moments, such as the first time I had a picnic with my family, the first time I went to Disneyland many years ago, my most recent game of Avalon with a group of good friends, and drinking beer on the sidewalk late at night discussing Alita, Battle Angel with my best friend after we had left the movie theatre.

The majority of such memories were with people close to me. However, solitary moments exist as well - wandering the streets of Kyoto alone at night, reaching Legend rank in Hearthstone for the first (and only) time, and sitting in a restaurant reading a Murakami novel by candlelight as a beautiful song that I did not know the name of played in the background.

Perhaps it’s because I haven’t made a dent in the world yet, so my best memories are somewhat simple. Or perhaps life isn’t so complicated after all. Spending time with those we care about, creating things, enjoying others’ creations, and challenging ourselves in some way - it may very well be that these are exactly the components of a good life.

In today’s world of productivity hacks and productivity gurus, I think there could be scenarios where we “overdo it” and become too obsessed with optimizing our time, our (attempted) value generation, and our personal growth. In some ways, this post is a reminder to myself to reserve time for fun - to schedule catch ups with people I care about, to read fiction, to watch and share movies with others, and even to challenge myself with some games once in a while.