A1 Level – Elementary
1. What makes you work quickly?
2. Do you like making lists of things to do?
3. What is the best time of day for you to work?
4. Do you check your phone often when working?
5. What is the difference between working hard and working smart?
6. Do you take short breaks?
7. What makes a day productive?
8. What is the best place for you to concentrate?
9. Do you think people work too much?
10. What is a common distraction at work?
11. Do you use a calendar to plan your week?
12. What makes you feel tired when working?
13. What is the opposite of productive?
14. What are some different tools for writing notes?
15. What makes you feel proud of your work?
A2 Level – Pre-Intermediate
1. What are the key differences between being busy and being truly productive?
2. Describe one technique you use to overcome procrastination.
3. What are the pros and cons of setting extremely ambitious productivity goals?
4. What role does sleep quality play in determining your daily productivity?
5. Have you ever tried to work on a very important task without any interruptions?
6. What kind of rewards or incentives motivate you to be more productive?
7. What is the difference between time management and energy management?
8. What are common challenges when trying to work productively from home?
9. How does technology (e.g., focused work apps) help or hinder your productivity?
10. What are the biggest cultural differences in the way people view work ethic and productivity?
11. What is the importance of prioritizing tasks and knowing when to say “no”?
12. Do you think a person can be productive while listening to music?
13. What are the challenges of measuring productivity in creative or non-routine jobs?
14. What are the best ways to deal with burnout—the feeling of being completely exhausted?
15. What is the difference between a goal and a system for achieving that goal?
B1 Level – Intermediate
1. Discuss the conflict between the expectation of constant availability (digital) and the need for focused, uninterrupted work.
2. How can companies design a workplace environment that naturally encourages greater efficiency and productivity?
3. What are the ethical issues surrounding the use of employee surveillance software to monitor productivity?
4. Do you agree that the modern focus on productivity often comes at the expense of creativity and mental health?
5. Describe a time when working fewer hours actually led to a surprising increase in your overall productivity.
6. To what extent should individuals feel pressure to be productive during their personal leisure time?
7. What role does mindfulness and meditation play in improving focus and work quality?
8. How do cultural norms about taking breaks and vacation influence a country’s overall output?
9. Discuss the psychological phenomenon of “flow state”—being completely immersed in a task—and how to achieve it.
10. What are the challenges of setting realistic long-term productivity goals that account for life’s unpredictability?
11. How does the concept of “deep work” (focused, high-value tasks) differ from shallow, administrative tasks?
12. Should mandatory digital detox periods be implemented in the workplace to boost long-term focus?
13. What is the difference between activity (doing many things) and accomplishment (achieving an outcome)?
14. Discuss the concept of the “Pomodoro Technique” and its effectiveness in time management.
15. What is the long-term impact of consistently overworking and pushing yourself past the point of exhaustion?
B2 Level – Upper-Intermediate
1. How does the economic pressure for endless growth create a societal obsession with constant individual productivity?
2. What are the ethical arguments about penalizing employees whose productivity levels fall below an arbitrary standard?
3. Should governments invest in public infrastructure (e.g., childcare, transit) to reduce non-work time demands on employees?
4. What are the psychological reasons why some people feel a moral obligation to be constantly productive?
5. How has the dominance of collaboration software (Slack, Teams) led to an increase in communication overhead, reducing focus?
6. Discuss the idea that a truly successful life requires knowing when to *stop* being productive and simply rest.
7. What is the role of office culture and peer behavior in setting the norm for acceptable levels of productivity?
8. How do our cultural narratives about heroism and success often valorize overwork and long hours?
9. What are the challenges of accurately measuring and rewarding productivity in knowledge-based, creative, or non-linear fields?
10. Discuss the concept of “Parkinson’s Law”—work expanding to fill the time available for its completion—and how to overcome it.
11. What is the difference between optimizing for *speed* and optimizing for *quality* in one’s work?
12. Should companies experiment with a four-day work week to test its impact on overall productivity and well-being?
13. What is the impact of organizational politics and bureaucracy on an individual’s actual ability to be productive?
14. How does the history of scientific management (Taylorism) continue to influence modern workplace expectations?
15. Discuss the idea that the true measure of productivity is the value created, not the effort expended.
C1 Level – Advanced
1. Analyze the socioeconomic factors that link low wages and lack of job security to hyper-productivity and a fear of “quiet quitting.”
2. To what degree should the legal system restrict employer monitoring of productivity to protect employee privacy and mental health?
3. Discuss the philosophical concept of “value creation” and whether it should be the sole definition of productivity.
4. Evaluate the impact of generative AI on automating routine cognitive tasks, thereby elevating the value of human strategic productivity.
5. How does the strategic design of office space (e.g., open plan vs. private offices) influence different types of worker productivity?
6. Examine the legal challenges of defining and enforcing a fair workload for remote and asynchronous employees across time zones.
7. What ethical guidelines should govern the use of neuro-feedback devices and cognitive training to boost worker output?
8. Discuss the concept of “the productivity paradox”—the idea that more technology doesn’t always lead to more output.
9. How do different national policies on labor unions and collective bargaining affect the negotiation of fair workloads?
10. Analyze the interplay between the increasing expectation of constant upskilling and a person’s core task productivity.
11. What ethical challenges arise when new productivity tools create a reliance on proprietary systems that restrict worker autonomy?
12. Debate whether a system based on outcome-based work (results) is inherently superior to one based on time-based work (hours).
13. How does the architecture of a person’s home office reflect or inhibit the ability to perform focused, deep work?
14. Discuss the concept of “hedonic treadmill” and how achieving higher productivity goals doesn’t necessarily lead to lasting satisfaction.
15. To what extent does the pursuit of extreme productivity diminish the personal capacity for empathy and social connection?
C2 Level – Proficiency
1. How do you analyze the idea that the obsession with productivity is a symptom of a dehumanizing economic system?
2. Formulate a critique of organizational systems that externalize the psychological and health costs of hyper-productivity onto the individual.
3. Analyze the intersection of behavioral science, organizational design, and the measurement of collective, emergent team productivity.
4. Discuss the philosophical distinction between “efficiency” (doing things right) and “effectiveness” (doing the right things).
5. Critically evaluate the effectiveness of corporate “unplugging” policies in genuinely reducing employee work-related stress.
6. Propose a new, human-centered model for measuring productivity that includes metrics for well-being, learning, and collaboration quality.
7. Examine the psychological function of ritual and routine in creating the mental conditions necessary for high-focus, creative work.
8. How does the semiotics of minimalist design and streamlined tools communicate an aspirational, yet demanding, ethos of efficiency?
9. Discuss the ethical responsibilities of business leaders to model healthy work-life boundaries rather than simply preach them.
10. Analyze the historical relationship between cycles of economic competition and the corresponding increase in demanded labor intensity.
11. Articulate the inherent tension between the market’s need for instant output and the creative process’s requirement for slow, unstructured time.
12. Debate whether the future dominance of AI will result in a human workforce primarily focused on managing AI productivity or engaging in non-productive leisure.
13. Assess the long-term societal effects of mandatory performance monitoring on workplace trust and employee loyalty.
14. Discuss the philosophical definition of ‘success’ and whether it can be attained without a high, measurable degree of productivity.
15. How might the principles of productivity optimization be used to model processes of complex institutional and political reform?
