The cult of productivity is linked to capitalist exploitation of human beings as good only for work. It's part of why being a workaholic is praised, especially in the US. People born after 1980 or so were pressured into unpaid internships as "job experience" - more and more requirements for being "worthy" of a paycheck were piled on. The problem is that these notions, the fetish of always being occupied with tasks, are entirely postmodern. The ancients had the idea of a required "rest" or "peace" for mental health and philosophical reflection (in Greek, this was called σχολή, and in Latin, otium; the Latin term is still used in certain contexts). I highly recommend looking at the wikipedia article if you are interested in the concept; it's much better than I expected! There is probably some work to be done in terms of connecting this intellectual, elite* notion of "fruitful rest" to other cultural or religious forms of retreat from daily life, meditation, and introspection.
Intellectual work requires time and rest and reflection. But moreover, I now know what burnout is. I admittedly never used to believe in it for myself - for others, sure. But I lost a parent and close family member within a couple months; then other traumatic things happened with a person I trusted as a mentor and with another person in my private life. Everything kept piling on top of me until I broke, and I stopped caring about anything at all. I used to always say yes, always take on new projects, but I found myself unable to perform. It was and still is an absolute nightmare, a horror beyond belief; I am still making my way out of this dark place. I never thought that could happen to me. But when you push yourself to the limit constantly, there is no room or leeway if something goes wrong. If something unexpected happens. Or maybe you can handle one bad surprise, but how about 5? How about a pandemic? A sick family member, a house fire, a demanding boss, insomnia, anxiety...? Eventually a person shuts down. Trust me, it is better to prevent this than to occupy your mind every second of every day. Furthermore, some of the best ideas are generated in those quiet times, or while doing repetitive, mindless daily tasks (shower thoughts). If you don't let your mind wander, you'll never discover hidden jewels in your own consciousness!
*freedom from work (paid or unpaid) is always connected with a kind of privilege, but that doesn't mean we as human beings need to explain or justify our own rest, our own otium. If we fall into the workaholic trap - even for the sake of argument, for the illusion of escaping our privilege ("I worked 3 jobs simultaneously and went to school and raised my siblings and volunteered with orphans...") - we strengthen the idea that a human being who works more is worth more. This is not true, but it is easy to slip into this line of argument even unconsciously.
Intellectual work requires time and rest and reflection. But moreover, I now know what burnout is. I admittedly never used to believe in it for myself - for others, sure. But I lost a parent and close family member within a couple months; then other traumatic things happened with a person I trusted as a mentor and with another person in my private life. Everything kept piling on top of me until I broke, and I stopped caring about anything at all. I used to always say yes, always take on new projects, but I found myself unable to perform. It was and still is an absolute nightmare, a horror beyond belief; I am still making my way out of this dark place. I never thought that could happen to me. But when you push yourself to the limit constantly, there is no room or leeway if something goes wrong. If something unexpected happens. Or maybe you can handle one bad surprise, but how about 5? How about a pandemic? A sick family member, a house fire, a demanding boss, insomnia, anxiety...? Eventually a person shuts down. Trust me, it is better to prevent this than to occupy your mind every second of every day. Furthermore, some of the best ideas are generated in those quiet times, or while doing repetitive, mindless daily tasks (shower thoughts). If you don't let your mind wander, you'll never discover hidden jewels in your own consciousness!
*freedom from work (paid or unpaid) is always connected with a kind of privilege, but that doesn't mean we as human beings need to explain or justify our own rest, our own otium. If we fall into the workaholic trap - even for the sake of argument, for the illusion of escaping our privilege ("I worked 3 jobs simultaneously and went to school and raised my siblings and volunteered with orphans...") - we strengthen the idea that a human being who works more is worth more. This is not true, but it is easy to slip into this line of argument even unconsciously.
found a (possibly dodgy) link to the video where Ruby says she has bought a house:
(would be muuuch appreciated! )
Obviously won't post a link or the address, but it's pretty easy to find if you Google "1 bedroom cottage Buckinghamshire", scroll down to about the 6th website on the results page (has an icon kind of like a red circle), it's currently advertised to rent for £1600 per month. You can easily identify the kitchen in the pictures 
(delete if not appropriate)
