Time, toxic productivity and urgency cultures in non-profits: part 1

This is the first of a two-part blog. In part 1, I explore how cultures of urgency and time-management approaches are affecting non-profit staff and the impact of the work they are able to do. I take an intersectional lens to understand how dominant approaches to time management interact with systemic oppression. Iam loathe to start any article with a quote from Elon Musk. After all, I have always scoffed at the types of leadership advice issued by the cabal of Silicon Valley ‘tech bros’ who regrettably play an outsized influence in all of our lives. But since <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1067173497909141504?lang=en" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Musk tweeted</a> that ‘Nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week’, it provoked a visceral reaction in me. I’ve been thinking about the world of social change, its relationship with time and its deep entanglement with ideas around power and productivity. I wanted to explore this further. In May 2023, 221 people working in non-profits around the world responded to a survey I created to explore how time was being managed in their organisations. Respondents worked for a wide range of non-profits — from humanitarian and international development organisations to research institutes and rape crisis centres. The majority of respondents (67%) were from international NGOs (probably because these people make up the majority of my followers on social media, which is where I shared the survey). This article draws upon the findings from that survey but is also influenced by my own experience as a feminist of working for over 18 years in the international development sector, as well as my experience of consulting for and volunteering with a wide range of non-profits outside of that sector. <a href="https://leila-billing.medium.com/time-toxic-productivity-and-urgency-cultures-in-non-profits-part-1-7a2008c61f00">Learn More</a>