EA - Does beating yourself up about being unproductive accomplish anything? What should I ask self-compassion researcher Kristin Neff when I interview her? by Robert Wiblin

Link to original articleWelcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Does beating yourself up about being unproductive accomplish anything? What should I ask self-compassion researcher Kristin Neff when I interview her?, published by Robert Wiblin on September 14, 2022 on The Effective Altruism Forum. Next week for The 80,000 Hours Podcast I'm interviewing Kristin Neff — an academic psychologist who has pioneered research into, and is strongly associated with, the idea of 'self-compassion'. We will discuss how much guilt/shame/negative self-talk help get things done, and if not much, how to reduce them. While many people believe that feeling bad about themselves when they're unproductive helps them achieve more, and that without this behaviour they'd become lazy and self-indulgent, Kristin argues that the evidence shows these behaviours to be bad for long-term productivity. Just as a good line manager doesn't denigrate a staff member who is struggling, and a good parent won't belittle a child who is procrastinating, we ought not treat ourselves so harshly. We should speak to ourselves like a good manager or friend or parent would: with kindness and understanding as well as a firm commitment to what's in our own long-term best interest. If Kristin is right, 'beating yourself up' is not only harmful to your own well-being, in typical cases it accomplishes very little. What should I ask her? Places to learn more about Kristen's work: A good interview she did with Spencer Greenberg on the Clearer Thinking Podcast that addresses mental health issues common in the EA community Wikipedia Her website Her book Self Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself Dr. Kristin Neff | The Science of Self-Compassion | Talks at Google Thanks for listening. To help us out with The Nonlinear Library or to learn more, please visit nonlinear.org.