Work, reward, and equity: Productivity in the age of quarantine

In the age of quarantine, it can easily seem as if nothing can be controlled. The systems and routines that we had developed for ourselves disintegrated within a few days as social safety regulations were implemented. While trying to restore a sense of normalcy to our lives, many have attempted to become more productive with this new surplus of time. 

However, in a culture where staying busy is a virtue, the abundance of time for those able to stay home has created the potential for adopting obsessive productivity. One can view the necessary work to be done as a means of escape — a way to cope with the growing uncertainty around us. Whether it be family members at risk, rising fears over the future economy, or uncertainty over how to handle day-to-day finances, there are many factors that can contribute to stress. It is not surprising that many people have used productive behaviors as a safety blanket, since the system of earning rewards for completing work is the backbone of student life and employment in the workforce. Usually, reward takes the form of money, including bonuses offered to employees or scholarships given to students.

Whether it be family members at risk, rising fears over the future economy, or uncertainty over how to handle day-to-day finances, there are many factors that can contribute to stress. 

While money is widely used as a motivator for behavior, a 2007 study published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Science argues that fairness and equity are also important in behavior modification. One experiment from this study offered participants $2 out of $4 versus $2 out of $10, with the purpose of testing whether participants reported higher happiness ratings with the fair offer in comparison to the unfair offer, although the monetary value was the same. Indeed, the more “fair” option prompted both higher happiness ratings and higher association with reward centers in the brain. Therefore, individuals generally value not only a reward, but the fair distribution of a reward. 

But as our workdays and schooldays cease to be normal, some have turned to create their own systems to generate their own fair reward. For example, time spent learning how to bake bread provides the baker with the fair reward of homemade bread. The COVID-19 pandemic has made normal interdependence in work and academic study all that much more important, and all that much more straining. Some have turned to personal productivity to regain a sense of control — an illusion upheld by launching personal projects and at-home workout regimens. It seems that people believe that they can maintain a level of fair reward for work and productivity. Even if that means small rewards, people have been able to find temporary calm through the occupation of their time with new skills and routines. 

Annals of the New York Academy of Science (2007). DOI: 10.1196/annals.1412.001

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