Sometimes I get stuck on sentences that someone says or writes and can’t get them out of my head. Sometimes it’s a short sub-sentence, a banal statement or even a complexly formulated outlook on life.
Paula Schwarz (German tech entrepreneur, investor and activist) once said on a talk show, when it came to what she wanted to pass on to her children besides love, that “it’s also about being productive,” about making something out of the life they’ve been given. You can understand this sentence a little better if you look at her life story.
But regardless of this one life story, it is a phrase that continues to fascinate me. In my studies of economics, we approached this idea of productivity in a conventional way, namely as a ratio that describes the relationship between products or services and the factors of production used to produce them.
But in the context of how a human – like me – might use his or her day, it’s about something else. If we create something, do something, commit ourselves to something that makes sense, then we are productive. If we just let things happen and consume, we are not.
In this sense, I share the desire to give my own children the ability, motivation and the joy of life so that they can be productive. That they are committed to something that is important to them, where they feel alive, where they fulfill their responsibility as humans and towards their own lives.
In the context of my project “redefine my professional self” – for me it is also about these questions. How and with what do I feel productive? And if professional action is also economic action, I am also interested in ethical questions.
Is that too much? Of course! That’s how we get ahead!
Because the question is, with which (professional) activities does one feel productive or where can one create productivity for oneself, if the job does not provide it in the first place? And isn’t productivity in this sense always individual?
Just a thought…
I wish you a productive day!
#producitvity #meaningfulness