Articles like these are always thinly-veiled judgement pieces in the guise of self help. The TL;DR is – spend your few hours a day of free time doing "good" things like writing poetry, painting and learning stuff rather than "bad" ones like watching Netflix, relaxing or socializing. My question – why? What is it that makes the former way of life so much better than the latter? Are people who study science in their free time that much happier/more fulfilled/more successful than those who just laze around?
If happiness and mental health is what you want to prioritize, then I'd argue that you should be doing the opposite of what the author suggests. Don't set goals for yourself. Don't be on a permanent quest to amass more knowledge and skills. Don't feel like you have to put every minute of every day to good use, otherwise you are losing out.
The crucial aspect here is deliberation. If you decide that you want to watch Netflix, or relax, or socialize, then that's quality leisure. The issue is that many of us are driven by The Algorithm to spend hours a day doing things we're not really sure we want to do. We don't take time to think about it because dopamine driven positive feedback loops have taken all conscious thought out of the activity.
I think the problem with your suggestion is it ignores fulfillment. Yes if you simply watch Netflix, relax, and socialize you will be happy. However, If that's the only thing you do besides a job you don't enjoy; You might often question what you're doing with your life. The correct answer is you need to find an appropriate mix of "good" things and "bad" things to do in your free time. What that exact mix is will be different for each individual.
Yeah one thing that these so called productivity hackers need to learn is the skill to Just be.
No need to learn anything, improve yourself or get better. Just be. It's okay to watch Netflix and play candy crush. But no, you ought to live 24 hours a day and improve yourself for God knows what endgoal.
There's no goal, but people need a meaning for life and it's hard to find meaning in candy crush. You can avoid those questions and be happy but most people know they're avoiding it. Man's search for meaning is one hell of a thing.
I disagree. People say this, but it's really not true in my experience. Most people are actually just... going with it, to be honest. And they're often happy. There doesn't need to be a deep philosophical "search for meaning".
Meaning is overrated - if You look around You will see that we have the ability to put meaning onto anything and pretend that somehow we discovered the truth.
Recently I started to believe that the thing we are looking is not a meaning per se but compelling story arc/narrative for ourselfs that we see in stories told to us. This may seem on the surface like search for meaning, but I only can see mindless imitation.
But this isn't a productivity hack article. It's about Actually Being. If you put in 40 hours of Netflix and Candy Crush, will you be able to look back a week and remember the hours, or will it be a blur with a couple good moments from a show that stick out? There are lots of ways to Actually Be that aren't "productive".
I do agree with you that this article leaves a lot to be desired. It definitely ignores mental disorder as a whole or that there are people who prioritize relaxation over productivity and are perfectly happy to do so.
So I think the answer to your question "What is it that makes the former way of life so much better than the latter?" is that for many people they feel a genuine lack of fulfillment from just watching Netflix and chilling. I certainly do- and allowing myself to slide into slug mode is actively detrimental to my mental health and a good way to fall into a depression pit. I however do NOT expect every one else to feel the same way as me, some people do better when they do less.
If happiness and mental health is what you want to prioritize, then I'd argue that you should be doing the opposite of what the author suggests. Don't set goals for yourself. Don't be on a permanent quest to amass more knowledge and skills. Don't feel like you have to put every minute of every day to good use, otherwise you are losing out.