Productivity Junkie
Did a friend forward this to you? Subscribe here!
Podcasts versus Music: How to Spend Your Listening Hours Wisely
Hi friends! My apologies for being MIA the past few months, but I’m back to the drawing board and excited to think and write more about our digital lives.
I recently got to spend some time with one of my best friends, Selena, and we got to talking about music. The first time we met in college, Selena brought a stack of live music show stubs to the dorm meeting as the object that defined her. (I don’t remember what I brought.) She had the coolest taste in music and always knew every obscure band that was out there. Our favorite weekend activity was sitting a coffee shop, pretending to study, while The Rusty Belle played whimsical tunes by the window. We went to shows in our little New England town but also whenever we were visiting another country or city. After college, she moved to the live music capital of the USA –Austin, TX—and we continued to go to shows and music festivals. But our music aficionado-ness has petered out over the years.
“I barely listen to music anymore,” I complained over dinner.
“I know,” she said with a grimace. “Me neither.”
“You!” I said. “You used to be such a music freak.”
She shook her head wistfully. “Now I just listen to whatever Tyler’s listening to.”
“And podcasts.”
Selena has gone from being a music junkie to being a podcast junkie. She’s the kind of person who listens to podcasts at 1.5x speed (which I find highly anxiety-inducing), so that she can fit more podcasts into her life. Selena was one of the firsts to get on the podcast train, an early adopter. Like with music, she always knows what podcasts are must-listen shows and which ones to skip.
“Sometimes I wonder,” Selena continued. “If podcasts had existed back in college, I probably wouldn’t have been that into music.”
I look at her aghast. “No. You think?”
She nods. “I’m such a productivity junkie…”
Selena hit the nail on the head. This is what I’ve been thinking a lot about lately, as I try to redirect my listening hours to music instead of podcasts. We listen to music for pure joy and entertainment, while podcasts provide us with infusions of knowledge—or at least, information. It’s an act of productivity, another way to squeeze data into our noggins.
Like Selena, and probably many of you, I, too, am a productivity junkie. Before the pandemic closed everything down, I listened to more music, but mainly in my Zumba class where the music infused me with adrenaline so I could push my body harder. Music, yes, but with a purpose.
Now don’t get me wrong; I do find pleasure in turning on a podcast while I’m cooking in the kitchen, but I can’t help but wonder: how much of that pleasure comes from fulfilling an unconscious duty to be as productive as possible with every moment?
These days, I want to fight back against rote productivity, this poisonous byproduct of the capitalist society that we live in. I want to choose joy for the sake of joy. I want to dance in the kitchen barefoot while I listen to a silly song, free from guilt about this “wasteful” use of my time. Now that’s what I call using my time wisely…
Thinking About: Capitalism Listening To: The American Life: The Show of Delights
Reading: Having and Being Had by Eula Biss
If you enjoy this newsletter, please
Thanks for reading!
