The productivity paradox

It's 2 pm. My desk is a graveyard of productivity tomes.

Cal Newport's "Deep Work" sits atop David Allen's "Getting Things Done." Duhigg's "The Power of Habit" leans against Clear's "Atomic Habits."

I've read them all. Twice.

Yet here I am, bleary-eyed, racing to meet a deadline I've already missed.

The irony is palpable.

We've become connoisseurs of productivity literature, gorging ourselves on a buffet of life hacks and time management strategies. We devour books, podcasts, and YouTube videos with the voracity of a scholar preparing for a dissertation.

The uncomfortable truth:

We're conflating knowledge acquisition with actual improvement.

Last month, I spent 6 hours reading about time-blocking.

You know how much time I spent actually time-blocking?