Definition of productive
1 : Effective in bringing about. Waking up in the morning bright and refreshed, able to start the day with a sunny attitude. Powering the computer on and being greeted with itemized tasks sorted by colour and sense of urgency, tackled in a logical and systematic order. Seamlessly transitioning through silicon circuitry, dazzling in one’s effectiveness. Kanban can-do as the average creative’s collaborators applaud them with stickers and handclaps. Motivation clinging to the brain like lint, unwanted and unwarranted in the twenty four hour work cycle. A cup of coffee, freshly brewed and steaming.
2: Yielding results, benefits, or profits. Despite the turmoil in the outside world able to make sales because some things are necessary regardless of the circumstance. Smiling in meeting after meeting until jaws hurt and cheek muscles tighten from the strain. Graphs constantly moving upwards because implying a downward trend is corporate suicide. Daily reminders that this is the new normal we live in and all practices and approaches must adjust to this. Empty promises that one day this will be over. A cup of coffee, still warm enough to drink.
3: An illusion of ability. Endless form emails flowing from the fingertips in a tidal wave of Dear Sir, Madam, We hope this finds you well. Downloading twenty applications designed to keep you on track with the realization that two hours have already flown by. Monday meetings half-zoned out and trying to adjust to the flood of what should be known versus what is actually known. Clinging to the last vestiges of the 9 to 5 and realising it no longer exists as on-call bleeds into daily life. A cup of coffee, half-consumed and getting cold.
4: The edge of a precipice. Waiting by a phone for hours on end because the sonorous sound of a human voice is the only effective metric of confirmation left. Desperately reaching out with a sales pitch because every cent matters. Breaking down in the bathroom for the third time today because the future is bleak no matter what direction you turn to. Staring at the ceiling before bed trying to remember if every message that needed to be sent was sent. Reaching for the laptop to triple check what was double checked and finding even more errors. A cup of coffee, dark as night and thrown out before the cycle begins anew.
Kyle is a dreamer, writer, and full-time complainer from South East Asia. Her fiction has been featured in Idle Ink, Mineral Lit, and Analogies and Allegories among other publications. She believes love is out there for everyone. You can find her on Twitter at @PercyPropa.