Blog Post: Work-Life Continuum


The productivity mandates of the 21st century have demonstrated their tendency to prioritize the health of the economy over the happiness of humans. Melissa Gregg’s book Counterproductive traces the ways in which time management ethos can inspire individuals to reclaim their idle expanses of time. However, in doing so individuals sacrifice these “unused” pockets of time and allocate them to the betterment of the neoliberal system. 

An article I recently came across titled “Stuck in Commuter Hell? You Can Still Be Productive” states that “employees should think about work on the way to work by mentally mapping out a plan for their day”(Gerdeman). Otherwise individuals are expected to dedicate themselves further to their labour offerings. Therefore, work and life become a continuum as opposed to disparate spheres. Gregg refers to this spill over as “presence bleed” to articulate the ways in which work escapes its physical confines (Gregg 12). 

The article can be accessed here: https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/stuck-in-commuter-hell-you-can-still-be-productive

Gregg, Melissa. Counterproductive: Time Management in the Knowledge Economy. Duke University Press, 2018.



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