Over this year, I’ve realised that most medical students don’t read books.

When I ask why, the most common answer is I don’t have time. Instead, their time is spent doing other things like working, watching lectures or exercising.

What’s the common denominator between these other activities? They are productive. Let me explain.

Productivity, in its most basic form, is more output per given input. If factory A produces five boxes per hour and factory B produces fifty per hour, factory B is more productive than A. There is more output (=boxes) per hour of input (=work).

Working, watching lectures and exercising are productive exercises. They all have a product, such as money, good grades, or better health, and this improves with time. The more you work, the more you’ll eventually get paid. The more you study, the better grades you’ll get. The more you exercise, the better health you’ll achieve.

Importantly, these parameters are measurable. Systems are in place to track how these parameters change with time.

Reading, or art generally speaking, is the complete opposite.

What happens when you read a book?

Nothing.

You have nothing measurable to show that you have improved as a person. If a spy watched you through secret cameras, they couldn’t see anything tangible happen to you at all. They would see you pick up a book, flip some pages, then put it down when you’re finished.

Art is not productive. There are no outcomes that can be measured; no way to track productivity. You look the same, your social standing is the same and your net worth hasn’t changed. And since we live in a hyper-efficient society,, art is largely forgotten.

But art, dear reader, is still seriously important. It teaches us to feel, think and imagine. It reveals grand, spectacular worlds to us – ones better than our own. It teaches us that we are not alone. It paints our world with colour.

Just because it is not productive, does not mean it is useless. Art is a most priceless gift.