# What are we trying to be so productive for By:: [[Steven Denman]] 2023-05-17 Have you ever heard of Rube Goldberg? As a kid, I remember seeing examples of his cartoons showing these overly engineered, yet impressive, sequential systems to do simple tasks. At that age, building K-nex machines made sense as a top priority, but despite my hard work I never quite reached the current Guinness World Record of a 427-step Rube Goldberg machine! I find there to be an odd imbalance in the discussion around personal productivity and work-life balance, with values and worldviews. Isn't optimizing and extending one's life without careful reflection on what is valuable like building a Rube Goldberg machine? It feels significant and complex along the way, but in the end, it makes a piece of toast? Or it closes the window of a Honda? (I admit I find this video oddly satisfying) My primary goal is not to judge people who live for toast or love Hondas, but to point out the foolishness of working harder at productivity than having clear values and a pondered worldview. Unpurposefully grabbing a worldview and value system from the cultural air is a recipe for disappointment. #### Related Items [[Productivity]] [[Purpose]] [[Value]] [[Thinking]]