Fauxductivity

从未播过的一集The World According to Words，五一期间首次上线，回馈长期以来的忠实粉丝。Thank you for always having my back! ====================== Welcome to The World According to Words, a program brought to you by China Radio International. I'm your host Liu Yan. The word I'm going to introduce to you today is -- fauxductivity. Its definition goes like this: (clip, fauxductivity) Fauxductivity noun Pretending to work hard, busyness that consists of trivial or unproductive activities. Obviously, the word is a blend of faux and productivity, meaning fake productivity. Now, you may be wondering, why don’t we call it faductivity then? It’s just as easy to understand and certainly easier to spell. Well, there is no definitive answer to that question, but my understanding is, fauxductivity rhymes with productivity better, and therefore is stickier and has a bigger chance of being remembered. Fauxductivity first appeared on the popular slang website Urban Dictionary on August 14, 2008. It was submitted by someone with the username of “Glassman”. Thanks to Urban Dictionary’s huge influence, the word was later picked up by the mainstream media. Here is one example from the American newspaper The Chronicle of Higher Education. In the article titled Fauxductivity, which was published on Oct 4, 2011, Minerva Cheevy writes, (clip, Minerva Cheevy) Fake productivity, or “fauxductivity” as I like to think of it, is where you surround yourself with accoutrements of productivity and busyness so not only does it look like you are busy and important, but you are hoping to trick your brain into acknowledging the need to get work done and then spend extra time doing it. It’s safe to say that most people know fauxductivity is bad, but they keep doing it anyway. Why is that? Is procrastination part of the problem? And what can we do to turn fauxductivity into productivity? Two guests are joining me today in the studio for a bit more discussion, Wang Jing and John Artman. (Studio Discussion) *Note: The discussion part of the show has always been spontaneous, therefore no script is available. Thanks for your understanding. Thank you very much, guys. Some great tips there. I would like to add just one more thing. I have seen many people self-destruct from over work as well as from lack of work, so make it your priority to find the perfect balance. If you are at work, work! And if you are at play, play! In short, work hard and play hard. A bad day off is sure better for you than a good day of fauxductivity. And with that, we conclude this edition of The World According to Words. Any comments or suggestions are welcome. You can reach me on Weibo. Just go to weibo.com/criliuyan and leave me a message. I'm your host and program producer Liu Yan. Until next time, good-bye.