“Productivity is a sore subject for a lot of people,” my colleague Amanda Mull wrote last fall—and I’ll admit that just reading that line makes me feel a little stressed. Perhaps it’s because, as Amanda puts it, “Americans invest personal productivity with moral weight, as though human worth can be divined through careful examination of work product, both professional and personal.”

Today’s reading list is an attempt to contemplate productivity without experiencing the accompanying anxiety. I’ve rounded up some of our writers’ most helpful insights on getting things done and conceptualizing productivity’s role in your life.

On Getting Things Done

The Only Productivity Hack That Works on Me

By Amanda Mull

Never underestimate the power of a to-do list.

Schopenhauer’s Advice on How to Achieve Great Things

By Arthur C. Brooks

Do you have an important project in mind? The 19th-century philosopher’s approach is still timely today.

Better Than Willpower

By Olga Khazan

Three emotions are the secret to getting things done. (From 2018)

Still Curious?

Other Diversions

P.S.

I’ll leave you with this lovely essay by Sheon Han about the Korean term that helps him reconcile moments of discipline and sloth.

— Isabel