I strongly dislike the productivity-maximizing ethos that drives people to quantify and optimize every aspect of their lives. The author acknowledges that POV. But at its worst, it’s both pernicious and privileged.
What does "privileged" mean in this setting? Do unprivileged people not have the option to maximize their productivity? How so?
Privilege is partly about autonomy. If most of my problems are outside my near-term control—my family, my neighborhood, my medical situation—I have low autonomy, at least in the moment. And that makes everything much harder. If you want to see a ruthless maximizer, go watch a poor person feed their kid for the last three days of the month.
If all of that is sorted, I can now turn to applying my maximizing attention to my inbox or my personal health score or my friend-influence index or my standing deadlift or whatever else.