The Fallible and Productive Knowledge Worker

Do we just have to rest our fingertips on the smooth keys of a keyboard to sneak an interaction with our environment? Is the knowledge worker only comfortable in meditation when her hands grip a device?

The wind chimes sing just a meter from her ears, leaves tumbling gracefully in the breeze, and the sun’s rays stretching to touch everything they can reach. It’s holding onto what it has left of the day, drifting closer to the horizon each moment.

Whether or not she clutches a prized piece of technology, the scene will continue all around her. She’d chosen to sit here with her laptop — rocking back and forth on the patio furniture — for its tranquility. Why sit inside to be productive when the Airbnb WiFi reaches the terrace?

Yes — this way, she is justified in the unending magnetic pull to her devices.

Sun bright in her squinted eyes, she’d hung her head as she traversed from the cabin to her spot. Seated and engaged with her laptop screen — using the available downtime to do something productive — a sudden force urged her to stop.

Fingers curved downward in resting position, their tips sitting atop familiar keys, she lifts her chin. It is the first time she notices the incomparable beauty surrounding her. She takes in the contrast of silence, chimes, and distant chirps of birds. Wind cools her sunbathing cheeks.

In this moment, she is stealing her attention from herself. When she pries the productive part of her brain away from work, conceding feels like the only way to achieve veritable presence. But she doesn’t admit that.

“Come on,” she whispers to herself. “Be here, now.”

Secretly pleased to be influenced, she submits to the temptation. “Ok, but just for a moment, because I have a lot of work to get to…”

And with her hands on her device, here she is.