"Clearing space" won't fix productivity
There's this fantasy a lot of people have that if they could clear their schedules of work, chores, and the other everyday things they have to do to stay alive, they'll have more time to focus on their creative pursuits. Write the book they've been thinking about, work on their art, code a video game, etc. There's even this movement from the pro-AI folks that believes AI will "free us" from the shackles of work. AI can do the jobs and we'll be free to spend our days getting caught up on books and painting things. No longer will we be handcuffed to mundane, boring corporate jobs. We'll be free!
But is any of this realistic? Let's say, hypothetically speaking, that this did become a reality. Let's imagine it's the future, and AI is doing the majority of our jobs. Because of this, we only need to put in about 12 hours of work each week, with the government supplementing the rest of our income with annual $50k checks, leaving us plenty of time to do whatever we want.
But even with all this free time, there's no explosion of productivity, nor tomes of novels or newly-created art stores. Because the reality is that all that free time is spent...doing nothing. It's spent watching Netflix or eating at restaurants, or sleeping in. The reason for this is because of Parkinson's Law.
This theory states that "work expands to fill the time available for its completion." So, if you have infinite time to finish a project, you'll work on it indefinitely, if not forever.
It's something I've noticed in my own life. I went freelance a few years ago, leaving my full-time corporate job in the hopes of freeing up my time. I wrote full-time at my job and felt it was sucking up all my creative energy. After being offered a freelance gig, I took the opportunity and jumped ship.
In the beginning, I appreciated sleeping in and spending more time with the dog. But I was less productive. After finishing my work, I would walk the dog, cook, watch TV, read, and suddenly realize it was 1 am. I would feel so confused. I had more time in my day, didn't have to commute to and from an office, had a smaller workload, and yet it felt like I had less time.
Although I don't regret going freelance (I never want to attend an all-hands meeting for the rest of my life), productivity has been a huge issue of mine and one I'm still working on. How do I structure my day when it's so open?
Our minds are like hoarders. When a hoarder clears out a space in their house, over time they simply re-hoard the cleared-out space. Time works the same way. Sure, you can "clear out" time in your day, but your brain will just fill it with something else. Instead of watching two hours of TV, it suddenly becomes three. Instead of sleeping for seven hours, now you're sleeping for ten.
The point I'm making is this fantasy of "freeing up time" is a fantasy for a reason.
I'm not saying I support this "hamster wheel"-type of life of endlessly working and feeling burnt out, but I think we all need to be a bit more realistic. "Lack of time" is often used as an excuse. Instead of waiting for an unrealistic fantasy, maybe focus on how you can squeeze in time to pursue your creative pursuits or hobbies now. Trust me, you'll accomplish a lot more than you think.