It’s well known that the UK has a productivity problem, countless Chancellors over the years have made it their mission to get Britain back to work.
For 2022, the latest year it has data on, the OECD reckons there was negative growth in GDP per hour worked in the euro area, the United States and the OECD.
After a flurry of global elections over the past year, tackling the issue will be a top priority for many new administrations, from Canada, to Australia, to South Africa to India.
AI has been touted as one obvious solution, with experts at Goldman Sachs and McKinsey projecting huge boosts when task automation and other benefits fully kick in.
Generative models will have a profound impact on the knowledge economy in the next five years. Over a slightly longer time horizon we’ll see similar benefits brought to manual roles by language action models and humanoid robotics.
These powerful new technologies are an obvious way to tackle the productivity problem.
But do we risk putting too many eggs in one basket?
Could we see a world of hyper productive machines alongside humans contributing less in the ‘age of AIpathy’?
Let’s not forget too, ensuring human productivity is part of the fuel that will drive the AI economy and other seismic shifts like quantum and synthetic biology.
While more work needs to be done, an increasing body of literature from universities and companies shows mindfulness can perhaps boost productivity. The wider benefits of as little as 10 minutes a day are profound.
At the end of last year, every Monday night for eight weeks, I hopped on my bike and cycled to an in-person mindfulness class on the other side of town.
I felt too busy, I made slow progress, I was pretty skeptical. There were times when we sat in silence and I debated with myself for a full 20 minutes about whether I’d left the oven on.
Our fabulous teacher Sarah assured us silly thoughts were natural. Creating a more mindful mind is an ongoing process. The benefits aren’t always felt overnight. In our frenetic, ‘always on’, 24-hour world that felt frustrating.
But in the words of Jon Kabat-Zin “Paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment” worked wonders for me by the end of the two months.
Nowadays, I often go for weeks without practice and return to it feeling guilty. But when I have a consistent run of mindful meditations, I find myself more productive in all areas of life.
This centuries old practice has helped my work analyzing trends and events far into the future.
As the UK Government sets out its central mission to Get Britain Working, it could do a lot worse than implement a nationwide mindfulness initiative, perhaps delivered by an ever snazzier NHS app
To date some work has been done in schools in England, and one study called INSPIRE will look at the impact on children of daily five-minute mindfulness exercises.
As the body of evidence grows, governments across the world might pay attention.
As a futurist, those Monday nights were a reminder that some of our oldest traditions are the most impactful and profound.