The demands created by productivity are increasingly difficult to avoid. During lockdown the domestic sphere became the workplace, leaving people without a division between personal space and commercial space. This piece acts as a reminder that goals governed by an external standard do not have to be internalised as personal goals. It also stresses the importance of time that is not beholden to the demands of productivity.

The format of WHATEVER YOU DO TODAY WILL BE PRODUCTIVE mimics a tactic used in propositional logic called a truth tree. A truth tree is used in Philosophy to determine whether a set of propositions or arguments are valid. This piece examines the places from which people search for validation in isolation. As notions of productivity become synonymous with economic productivity, actions like resting, procrastinating, thinking etc are dismissed as an invalid use of time. The truth tree attempts to act as a counterargument to internalised demands of productivity. By using an analytic tool to examine emotional demands, WHATEVER YOU DO TODAY WILL BE PRODUCTIVE highlights the powerful relationship between external validation and self-assurance. The blend of argument and affirmation is an attempt to illustrate that time can’t be wasted, it persists without our approval.

Aoife Donnellan is a recent graduate of Philosophy and English Literature at Trinity College Dublin. Her primary research interest is in material cultures, and digital archiving. Aoife’s capstone project was conducted in conjunction with Trinity’s archive library looking at materiality in digital archiving and artist books. Aoife was recently awarded a Digital Society Bursary for her capstone project. She is currently a freelance copy editor at EVA International. Aoife will be completing a Material and Visual Culture MA in UCL in 2021.