The myth of the productive home office: false productivity
I am the nerd who cannot wait to buy a new diary and spends a vast amount of time deciding whether I need to buy an A5 or A4 diary. For years I maintained a very confusing dual system of an analogue diary (stationery fetish) and digital to-do list (new toy) before committing to a digital system. This is an overly long introduction to productivity myths, but here is my penny’s worth on some other productivity myths.
The myth of the productive home office: working in your PJs
People love to remind me how fortunate I am to be self-employed. It is evident people love the idea of working in PJs. I don’t tell them about falling asleep fully clothed after working through the night on an impossibly tight deadline. We all know it is a cardinal mistake, but we all blur the lines between work and personal life. We all do it.
Yes, freelancers have more opportunities to have a quick mid-week break, visit a garden nursery on a Tuesday, or take a pilates class when everybody else is at work. But, I also work at night and over weekends.
Self-employment requires an enormous amount of self-discipline, as does working from home, as many employers discovered during the pandemic, when many employees were forced to set up home offices. Many office workers loved the idea initially, but as the weeks dragged on, the challenges of working from home became more evident. Working from home is not for everybody.
The myth of the altruistic employer: over-delivery and under-employment
This is an easy mistake to make when you have had a long career break and think that over-performance will create a good impression. Another version of the same problem is being over-qualified for a job. This problem is probably more prevalent among people who grew up in an era when employment meant life-time employment. A few decades ago, a foot in the door was a foot on the corporate ladder.
Present-day employers only see your insecurity and willingness to please. A low-paying position has little utility and the person who fills it can be replaced quickly without any material damage to the organisation. When you over-deliver by taking up the slack of more senior employees it is a win-win situation. The output of senior employees increases at no additional costs. Many employers allow the situation to develop to maximise their interests for as long as possible knowing that you will probably leave due to extreme burnout or frustration.
The myth of the altruistic employer: working for an algorithm
A few years ago, many freelance writers found themselves trapped in content mills. They were expected to generate endless copy at very low rates. I had a brief taste of working for a content mill, where I was expected to write three blog posts a week. It was only when I saw my copy in print with a CEO’s byline that I realised what I had gotten myself into. Today, the same type of work is done by AI and its derivatives. Enough said.
Writers and editors are very familiar with the more recent manifestation of this type of exploitation. Companies have embraced AI and LLMs has a huge cost-saving opportunity to drive down the rates they are prepared to pay contractors. The more insidious manifestation is platforms using independent contractors to train the AI that will eventually replace them or justify even lower rates. This is extraordinary industry-wide gaslighting.
Legislation needs to catch up with the rapid deployment and evolution of AI products to protect freelancers in the creative industries. I am not even sure it is possible. To be honest, there is very little incentive for companies not to use AI. The cost benefits are just to attractive.
The proportion of people who value good copy, who care to read good copy, is declining. It is a little like debating the merits of buying bread from an artisan baker down the road vs buying government loaf at a discount supermarket. It depends a lot on whether you care.