Be authentic in your public persona, avoid ‘productivity porn’ when promoting yourself
When promoting yourself in a public forum why not give over some of the real you, rather than the sanitised public relations version of yourself? Neal Moore explores the murky world of ‘productivity porn’.
Kudos to my fellow scribe Nat Eliason for calling out ‘struggle porn’ i.e. the glorification of the hustle over the win – leading hustlers to believe they’re winning even when, clearly, they’re not.
I would like to offer this up as a companion piece on what I call ‘productivity porn’ best exemplified by this Business Insider article about a day in the life of a pod person who has given herself the human name of Melania Edwards.
Melania, a HSBC executive, claims to get up at 5.30am, meditate, catch up with friends and family, make a disgusting looking smoothie and play a game of tennis – all before going to work. What she does there remains a mystery but whatever it is, it pays for her to take her ‘certificate in innovation and entrepreneurship’ from Stanford University. Because the best way to prove you’re an innovative entrepreneur is to get a certificate that says you are.
I am so gald you wrote this as I felt they same way
Those Duracell Bunny types end with chronic disease and adrenal fatigue. They bite at the least provocation. They have no time for unstructured creativity, play and deep thinking. I doubt they even know themselves deep down. As for the quality of their work, I find it shallow because they don’t have the space in their life for any soul searching activities where the real diamonds are created.
Yeah be authentic is great advice, but what about those of us who are jerks?