Are you doing it because you subconsciously want a kick in the pants?
or
Are you doing it because you want permission to be a slacker?
or is there some third option we’re missing? (Maybe whining for the sake of whining? I dunno…)
#1 generally wants a kick in the pants, but sometimes #2 is an enabler, which forces #1 to stop being a slacker even though she’s got permission, which is probably better for her anyway… #1, otoh, wants everybody to be miserably productive because misery loves company. (When she says it’s ok to take a break because you need it… it means you really do need it.)
#2 Sometimes all three, but usually mainly the first.
(van down by the river!)
Grumpy Rumblings (of the formerly untenured) 
February 28, 2012 at 8:22 am
Apparently it’s just us!
February 28, 2012 at 9:22 am
Haha… not just you. :) I try to avoid whining but I think when I do it’s because I want a hug and/or someone to tell me that I’m “good.” In many ways, I’m like a 2-year-old. In others, a puppy. Pat my back and give me a treat and I’ll be on my way.
February 28, 2012 at 9:49 am
When I whine about a lull in productivity, I’m usually looking for sympathy about whatever is causing the lull. After I get sympathy, I’m interested in ideas to fix the problem, but I really need that sympathy first.
Unfortunately, if I whine to my husband, he usually defaults to “there is a problem, I must fix it” mode, and skips the sympathy-providing step.
February 28, 2012 at 4:42 pm
Yes! I also get a lot of “well, if you didn’t sit around talking about it, you could use that time to get xxx done” from my hubby. Not what I was looking for :)
February 29, 2012 at 9:17 pm
Working predominately with engineers, I find that if I am in a conversation that does not result in action items, one of us will say something along the lines of, “I’m not sure if we’ve accomplished anything here.” I’ve taken to asking people straight-out, “are you looking for advice or do you just want to talk?”
February 28, 2012 at 4:44 pm
I don’t whine about it often to folks other than my husband, but lately I’ve realized how infrequently we give ourselves permission NOT to be productive. I don’t know if it’s a gender thing, or what, but my husband thinks nothing of spending 3-4 hours unwinding in front of the TV or a video game in the evening, whereas I’m trying to run around and prep everything for the next day, throw in a load of laundry, etc etc. My “down time” is more like a 30 min block of a TV show or something.
Lately I’ve been feeling sort of cranky and unmotivated to do anything but what absolutely NEEDS to be done at home, and I realized that it’s OKAY. I don’t need to do more than that, sometimes.
February 28, 2012 at 5:25 pm
When I whine about it I want permission. When I internally whine about it I’m trying to give myself some motivation. Kind of like when some girls say, “I’m so fat…” They want everyone around them to be like “Oh, no you’re not! Your gorgeous!” People who really decide they need to do something about their looks work out or something.
Or just ditto what Cloud said.
February 28, 2012 at 7:26 pm
I never whine.
February 29, 2012 at 9:30 am
I only whine about it to myself to kind of beat me up and make me get my stuff together :D
February 29, 2012 at 1:50 pm
Probably we whine about lack of productivity for the same reason we whine about how busy we are. We want people to say “yes, yes, you have so many things in your life! My, how do you do it?”
February 29, 2012 at 1:54 pm
That’s definitely not why we (on this blog) do it. That is, in fact, counter to our aims.
February 29, 2012 at 3:19 pm
All of the above!
I’m late commenting because I was being so super productive yesterday that I had no time! (Actually, I was borderline ready to explode due to the combination of heavy workload, deadlines, and unhelpful staff who increased my workoad due to incompetence.)
February 29, 2012 at 7:07 pm
Wooo productivity!