Time management, productivity, high-performance—these buzzwords govern the way we view our roles in not only our jobs but society as a whole. But often, notions that center around the idea of high performance are just that: performative.

In this conversation with Dr. Christine Seifert, we unpack what ‘productivity’ really means and the assumption of morality that unpins it. A professor of communication and author of a number of books and articles, Dr. Seifert thinks deeply and often about the mechanics and implications of rhetoric and how we can be deliberate in our engagement with metaphor.

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Christine Seifert is a Professor of Communication at Westminster College where she teaches rhetoric and strategic communication. She’s written for The Atavist, Harvard Business Review, Inside Higher Ed, Bitch Magazine, Business Communication Quarterly, The Journal of Self-Directed Learning, and The Journal of Competency-Based Learning, among others. She is the author of four books. She is a voracious reader of fiction and nonfiction.

Mentioned in the Episode:

Productivity is a Cult: It’s time to deprogram yourself and exit

The Factory Girls: A Kaleidoscopic Account of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

Counterproductive: Time Management in the Knowledge Economy by Melissa Gregg