BONUS | Not Everything Has To Be Productive (with Chris Guillebeau)

4 min

•Jun 12, 2026about 1 month ago

Summary

Chris Guillebeau discusses the importance of doing things purely for enjoyment rather than productivity, sharing personal stories about finding meaning in seemingly pointless activities. The episode explores how embracing unplanned, inexplicable moments—like a spontaneous 17-mile walk or airport visits—creates lasting memories and helps us feel more alive.

Insights

Productivity culture can prevent us from experiencing joy and presence; sometimes the most valuable activities are those with no measurable output
Small, personalized pleasures—even if they seem strange to others—are worth pursuing and contribute significantly to life satisfaction
Being present and fully engaged in an activity, regardless of its practical purpose, creates more meaningful memories than optimized, goal-driven experiences
Spontaneity and saying yes to impulses becomes harder with age due to scheduling pressures and the need to justify activities, yet these moments define a well-lived life
The Stoic virtue of wisdom includes knowing when to prioritize enjoyment and presence over efficiency

Trends

Growing backlash against hustle culture and productivity optimization in personal development discourseIncreased interest in mindfulness and presence-based living among high-achieving professionalsReframing of 'unproductive' time as essential for mental health and life satisfactionShift toward valuing experiential memories over documented achievements on social mediaRecognition that intentional leisure and play are forms of self-care, not indulgence

Topics

Stoic philosophy and virtue ethicsWork-life balance and productivity culture critiqueMindfulness and presence in daily lifeSpontaneity and decision-makingCreating meaningful memoriesFinding joy in simple activitiesAging and lifestyle choicesPersonal fulfillment beyond achievementIntentional leisure and playService and self-care balance

Companies

Shopify

E-commerce platform sponsor offering $1/month trial for entrepreneurs to start and grow businesses

People

Chris Guillebeau

Guest discussing philosophy of productivity, joy, and living intentionally with personal anecdotes

Quotes

"if we can all find like small things that make us happy, even if they seem weird to other people or strange or like, why would you do that? Then our lives are going to be better."

Chris Guillebeau

"this is the thing I'm just doing for myself. And I'm not even going to like blog about this. I'm not like, hey, everybody, I'm out on a walk for six hours."

Chris Guillebeau

"those are the things that you remember. I think as you get older, you have less time and also tolerance for doing inexplicable things because they seem irresponsible or hard to justify"

Chris Guillebeau

"You were only doing that thing. However, silly and inexplicable that thing. That was the attraction."

Host

Full Transcript

Ready to launch your business? Get started with the commerce platform made for entrepreneurs. Shopify is specially designed to help you start, run and grow your business with easy customizable themes that let you build your brand, marketing tools that get your products out there, integrated shipping solutions that actually save you time, from startups to scale-ups, online, in-person and on-the-go. Shopify is made for entrepreneurs like you. Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com. Welcome to the Daily Stoic podcast, designed to help bring those four key Stoic virtues, courage, discipline, justice and wisdom into the real world. You have to think about how to be of service and also how to have fun and enjoy life yourself, which is also something that I don't historically do a good job of like, I want to have fun. I'm going to do, you know, like I actually wrote about it, and it's like, like, how do I practice having fun, right? I just wrote a whole chapter about this, and I like had the story of this guy in the Netherlands named Jan, who for like 30 years every Wednesday, he would go to Amsterdam, Schipel Airport and book a flight somewhere within Europe, wherever was cheapest, he'd fly to Stockholm or Barcelona or somewhere, and he would just kind of hang out and he would like walk around the terminal and he'd fly back. Never leave the airport. Never leave the airport. Okay. It's so interesting. This is what he liked to do. He just like, he found it really peaceful, enjoyable, relaxing and so on. So it's so easy to criticize that, you know, he'd be like, he never, he traveled so much and never traveled at all, right? But it's a small thing that made him happy, you know? And I think, you know, if we can all find like small things that make us happy, even if they seem weird to other people or strange or like, why would you do that? Then our lives are going to be better. And I was thinking about his story one day when I went for a walk. I found this restaurant I wanted to go to that was like 17 miles from my house. I thought about it for maybe like a few days in advance, but not too long. And I was like, I should walk there. You know, I was like, I should walk to this, you know? And so one day I was like, okay, what do I have this afternoon? Not that much, nothing that I can't do later. And so, so I did. I got like right after lunch, I left and I walked like six or seven hours. And it's funny because I thought, well, I'm going to try to get some stuff done on the walk. You know, I can make some phone calls or whatever, but then your phone battery dies, you know, because you're on GPS the whole time, like tracking. And I was like, oh, this is not going to actually be a very productive experience. But of course, it was actually very meditative and kind of fun and, you know, also silly, but like, it's like, this is the thing I'm just doing for myself. And I'm not even going to like blog about this. I'm not like, hey, everybody, I'm out on a walk for six hours. You know, I'm just doing this thing. And I went to the restaurant and and then like went home. And then like for days afterwards, I'm like, what a cool thing. You know, what a fun thing that I did. It's a weird memory. Period live. Yes, exactly. Yeah, exactly. And so there are things you can do to feel more alive. Yeah. And I have been trying to lean into that myself. And I hope that other people will. So instead of going, hey, I got to cross these 15 restaurants off the list. I got to do this. You're I'm sure you're not just you probably felt alive because you were present. You were only doing that thing. However, silly and inexplicable that thing. That was the attraction. Yes. Right. That was the thing. Yeah. Did you walk back? No, I took an Uber back and then the whole way at the 15 minutes. Exactly. That's what's funny. I was like, this is but I'm passing all the way all the places that I'd walked. You know, and I was like, oh, that's just fun. And probably when you pass by those places now. Yeah, exactly. Tap into that feeling for even just a fleeting second. Yeah. And this is two years ago. And I still remember this weird memory and it wasn't that wasn't that hard of a choice to make. And it's not like I was like every Wednesday from now on, I'm going to walk 17 miles. I don't have to do that. Yeah. And just be like, what are things like that that I can respond to and say yes to? How was the food? The food was really good. It was really delicious. Cornbread. There's a cornbread appetizer that's usually like shared among people. And I eat the whole thing myself. You just work it off. Yeah, exactly. You could do whatever you want. You want it. I think as you get older, you have less time and also tolerance for doing inexplicable things because they seem irresponsible or hard to justify or even just hard from a scheduling standpoint. But that's kind of what life is. Those are like those are the things that you remember.