CRPL

CRPL

Formerly a weekly journalism project, now a daily newsletter about disability and productivity, CRPL (Creatively Responding to Problematic Labels if you're not a fan of reclaimed language) has the goal of giving disabled and non-disabled people tools to crip the world's leading productivity advice and dive into why productivity doesn't have to be a dirty word.

An illustration of a home on the edge of a lake. The style is comfy and cartoony with hues of orange, purple, and red.

Issue #50

How To Not Savour a Milestone

A cartoon image of a dumpster on fire. The dumpster is green with white lettering. The letters spell out 2020.

Issue #49

We All Get to Fail

A basketball hoop, superimposed against a night sky is placed so that a yellow moon appears to be on the edge of falling through the net.

Issue #48

Are We Missing Out?

A dirty paintbrush glides across a canvas. The surface is filled with pinks and purples and reds. It appears to be a work in progress.

Issue #47

Out of Body Experiences (Via Youtube)

Two white 3d models that are vaguely human shaped face each other with black and red boxing gloves

Issue #46

When You Are Trying Too Hard

An illustration of a hospital-style wheelchair with a grey frame and wheels with handles and arm rests.

Issue #45

Is Mark Rober an Ableist?

Casey Neistat, a white man in his late twenties, stands in a desert with a tripod in front of him.

Issue #44

How Casey Neistat Might Be Cripping Productivity

A simplified version of the disability pride flag with a black background. There are five vertical bars of colour, from left to right: light blue, yellow, white, red, and green.

Issue #43

It’s All in the Framing

An hourglass sits on a newspaper. There is red sand inside, with it filtering down slowly.

Issue #42

But Where Did the Time Go?

There is a blue and green illustrated background, showing ground and the sky.. In the foreground is a blue and white sign that reads Now with an arrow pointing one way and Later with an arrow pointing the other way.

Issue #41

No, You Don’t Need A Diagnosis to Crip Your Productivity

Issue #40

A photo of the pass of a restaurant, where the food is handed from the cooks to the servers. There are hanging grey lights, people bustling around, and a lot of white plateware in view.

Issue #39

Mental Mise en Place

White man sits in a chair, the top of head is open and is replaced with a stylized machine that he is taking a screwdriver to.

Issue #38

What About When It’s All Overwhelming?

A cartoon/cell-shaded image of a robot who has red, gold, and black parts. There is what looks to be a crack on the figure’s right side. There is a moon-like circle behind them sitting on a navy background.

Issue #37

How Many Digital Tools Does One Human Need?

A german shepherd sits at a small play picnic table with a slice of watermelon in their mouth. There is also a glass of water. The background is of blurry trees. The dog is wearing a pink collar with a black-looking tag. The table has a chequered tablecloth and there is a small white fence behind the dog.

Issue #36

It Can Be All in the Wording

A black notebook with a red felt heart on top sits open side down on gravel. There is a teal blue pen placed on the spine of the book.

Issue #35

Here’s to Cringing

An artistic rendering of two horses, brown with black manes, kicking up at each other. The background is painterly and is meant to look like it is dusk.

Issue #34

Canine Orthodontics

A black and gold gavel sits on a black pedestal. The background is also black. The gold part of the gavel is in the middle joining band.

Issue #33

We Are All Traitors to Our Class

A stopwatch on a blue background. At the top of the stopwatch it says “Deadline” in red.

Issue #32

Productivity (In Theory)

Four white arms, all in business attire, fist bump in the middle of table with paper and technology that hints at a business meeting.

Issue #31

Minimal Viable Productivity

A red barn on a snow-capped flat landscape. There is one bare tree to the right of the frame.

Issue #30

A golden dragon on a pink, gold, orange, and red background.

Issue #29

On the Road for Once

Stone shaped pieces of ice, which are blue tinted in the light stretch into the background.

Issue #28

Aim for the Middle

A whimsiclay drawn elephant, with rosy cheeks and golden earflaps is sitting on a pile of multicoloured books, some blue, some grey, some, red, some gold. There is a small stack on either side of them with a golden apple and some flowers around the scene.

Issue #27

Sometimes it Just Can’t Be Your Problem

A lit match on a dark background. The red-tipped match is surrounded by wispy strands of smoke.

Issue #26

Do as I Say, but Not as I Do

A watercolour illustration of a woman sitting cross-legged on a pink rose. She is pouring hearts from a green watering can into the pot below.

Issue #25

Money, in the form of coins and bills sit on sheets of paper. Also visible are a calculator, a spoon stuck into a potato, and coins balanced on said spoon.

Issue #24

The Myth of Passive Income

Water droplets, or at least representations of them, fall onto a surface that is unclear, the background is blurred so that you can see the outline of more spheres.

Issue #23

It’s Been A Month

A Mac computer is open on a desk that is filled with art supplies, a phone, a coffee, and various other extras. The desk is vibrant with many colours, most of them primary.

Issue #22

How to Choose A Productivity Tool

Two megaphones, one blue and one orange, are illustrated on a yellow background. There are lines indicating sound is coming from them.

Issue #21

Writing an Access Statement for Journalism

A mountain range in Wyoming is in the background, a lake is in the foreground with the reflections of the mountains crisp and clear. There are also small green hills visible. The sky is blue with wisps of white clouds.

Issue #20

You Can Be Productive in Wyoming?

Cartoon-style image of a crane/construction equipment lifting a representation of a web browser. There is a web-development related symbol on the right-hand side of the image. The equipment is orange, the browser is red and white, the background is light blue.

Issue #19

How I Created My Newest Favourite Email Template

White cartoon hands are holding a grey clock. The time is unclear. The arms in the image are wearing a suit jacket. The background is orange.

Issue #18

You Deserve to be (Selectively) Unproductive

Two people are engaged in a pinky swear. The background of the photo is a brick wall. One person’s fingernails are painted red

Issue #17

Disability and Minimalism

A drawing of a brown grain elevator, with a shed beside it. Saskatchewan Pool No. 546 Scottsburgh is written on the side. The sky is grey. The ground is beige with railway tracks.

Issue #16

Turning Your Waiting Room into a Classroom

Issue #15

How to Sign Off Productively and Compassionately

A crystal ball is rolling on a winding road toward an archway in the distance. Below is what can only be described as a representation of molten water. It feels like an ephemeral journey at dusk.

Issue# 14

Steps Five & Six of Cripping Productivity

A grayscale photo of a skull, with more bones in the background. The skull is facing upwards.

Issue #13

Steps Three & Four of Cripping Productivity

A mallard duck, with a green head and eyes, yellow bill, and grey feathers is looking at the camera. The background of the photo is blurred but it is obvious that the animal is outside.

Issue #12

Step Two of Cripping Productivity

A top-down view of a brown spiral staircase. You can see the light of the opening at the bottom.

Issue #11

Step One to Cripping Productivity Advice

Pink and grey blocks of soap are sitting on a wooden surface, some are flat, some are on their side. Inscribed in them is the phrase, “Made with Love” with a heart and a circular motif around the wording.

Issue #10

The Inherent Value of Care

A turtle, brown and white, and almost golden is swimming in the ocean. The view is from the top down and we can see the floor below him, filled with rocks and vegetation.

Issue #9

I Know You Are but What Am I?

An old and rusted out vehicle, blue where it isn’t red with rust, sits abandoned in a field. There is a cloudy sky and a set of trees far off in the background.

Issue #8

Productivity and the Junk Drawer

A top-down photo of a map, meant to be part of the world, though where is unclear. On top are books, a pencil, a few old photographs, some glasses, a camera, a few notebooks and some knick knacks.

Issue #7

A New York Mogul and His Connection to Disability Productivity

The sun, golden and majestic, is rising over the ocean. There is a small boat with someone paddling. The sky is a mix of blue, and gold, and pink, all of the colours are reflecting off of the water.

Issue #6

Cripping the Morning Routine

A gilded looking gold and blue clock face, the larger part is written in roman numerals with the date dials in standard numbers.

Issue #5

No, We Don’t All Have the Same Number of Hours

Graffiti reading “Does it ever get better or?” is in red in an otherwise black and white image of nondescript grafiti. The art is written on what appears to be a sharps disposal box.

Issue #4

You Can’t Heal Us

Image of Milky Way solar system with each of the orbits drawn out to show the vastness of the universe.

Issue #3

A System of a Down Day

A cybernetic-style brain is on a black background. The brain is partially blue as electric light powers it.

Issue #2

A Second Brain? With this Diagnosis?

A basket of vegetables, including lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and peppers

Issue #1

The Hidden Foundation of Productivity Advice