‘I’m really sorry, I can’t come today. I’m stuck in meetings all day,’ is a line I’m sure you’ve said a couple of times on the phone, or have had it echoed back to you when you’re trying to make plans.
Granted, the average executive or consultant is likely swamped and indeed stuck in meetings all day, but sometimes, it’s also about echoing productivity to the public.
Urbanites living in Bangkok are likely to be busy, with our iCal schedules synced to different applications, colour-coding between dinner plans and tennis lessons, between scheduled relaxation, self-care, and time for ‘deep work.’
A couple of weeks ago, we wrote about the concept of wellness being a new form of wealth. Through the lens of The Good Life, striving for the ideal Work-Life balance is also a contemporary filter for an enriched lifestyle.
We are hustling to be pressed for time, setting up alarms to squeeze in some cardio before journalling and then onto the next task. For those who are not pursuing traditional 9-5 roles in the office, this craze is even more heightened. We are constantly in a state of hustle and bustle, while spending money and time to relax and unwind.
Modern ambition has shapeshifted. Beyond the traditional career success, it’s also about self-optimisation. We measure productivity with metrics, optimise all corners of our lives, and track our busyness under the overarching theme of ‘self-improvement’.
Swamped by self-help
This week, I walked around the annual book fair held at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, and upon entry, found myself swamped in a sea of self-help and self-improvement titles. These titles range from variations on ‘Deep Work’ to ‘How to Make Time’ and even books on effective note-taking strategies. I noticed that booths with these kinds of titles had significantly more foot traffic and interest.
Online discussions about the book fair showed stacks of self-help and productivity titles. More translations of titles such as Atomic Habits and Psychology of Money are being printed. Owning these books on the shelf already makes you feel like you’re on the way to a better you. The demand for books and content has changed.
How else could you explain hundreds and thousands of views on someone’s 6am morning routine on Reels? To me, the book fair felt like a real-life marketplace of ambition, where people seek methods to become more efficient all-rounders in life. It’s not just videos and texts; all this information overload is also seeping through your AirPods via podcasts on Spotify. At what point do we stop and say, ‘This is simply just too much information to digest’?
Somewhere along the way, self-improvement has morphed to become part of the routine. The busier we are, the more we spend on relaxation and wellness; it’s all part of the daily grind. Our striving for a productive ‘balance’ has to be measurable, and always leave room for improvement. Isn’t that entirely the opposite of truly being at ease?
In Bangkok, where people often identify themselves with different ambitions, such as ‘oh, I’m into optimising my morning productivity lately’, or ‘now, I’m paying more attention to mindfulness’, the daily productivity of it all may eventually become draining.
Earning leisure
If we take a step back and think about why these trends resonate in Bangkok, we need to look at how the city runs on hype and momentum. The fast-paced nature of chasing every high on the checklist is synonymous with any capital city. Living leisurely has to be earned, as does a decadent dinner: ‘Oh, I’ll burn this off tomorrow.’
It’s good to track your progress and set goals, but sometimes it’s also beneficial to take a deep breath and just do what you want for a weekend.
It must be said that Thailand’s economic slowdown has quietly fuelled the recent hype around self-improvement. The data points speak for themselves, with our 2% GDP growth forecast against the backdrop of a tourism slowdown, and shopping malls competing for the same consumer groups. Anecdotally, people are cutting back, and this may have fuelled the desire for self-improvement.
I must admit, I also found myself wandering to the self-improvement aisle and picking up a book or two about time optimisation, even though the answer is to put the phone down.
However, it’s led me to think that while I may still try to make lists and schedules, I will also make room for walks without step counts, some naps, and afternoons of doing absolutely nothing. The Good Life is supposed to feel good, and I think we should also chase that high sometimes, too.