How To Not Let Other People’s Productivity Intimidate You
Living with low productivity in a highly productive world
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As a slow thinker battling depression, I have always struggled to maintain an appropriate level of productivity in my life. My one-hour writing sessions end up with not even 500 words written down on paper. My day is filled with tasks I hope would take one hour but end up taking few hours off my time. On top of that, my brain needs more off-hours than the appropriate numbers suggested by productivity gurus to allow my mind the breathing space so as to not get overwhelmed by work.
It’s not that I don’t work as many hours as the others; I do. But my slow brain always finds a way to drag a task that takes one hour to consume hours without me even noticing. Forcing myself to work faster has never gone over well. It kills my creativity and puts an insufferable burden on my head that takes my motivation levels down the sewers.
Not limiting myself to a timeframe rewards me in the form of better results. Those results are almost enough to convince me to stop measuring success by my average throughput. But when I’m living in a world that’s moving so fast for a day that puts only 24 hours on the clock, it’s impossible to not let the fear of failure engulf me with its claws of doubt.
I stare at people who juggle full-time work, one or two side hustles, and still have time for hobbies and self-care in fascination. I marvel at their level of productivity and how they maintain that level without burning out. While I understand that level of productivity is not something I can sustain in the long term, sometimes it’s hard to not let it intimidate me into thinking I’m not doing enough or I’m not good enough.
In the day of social media, especially, where everyone projects only a certain side of themselves into cyberspace — more often than not, their best selves — seeing how much others are able to achieve in so little time is the fastest route for the doubts to start creeping in. It’s an easy way to lose the belief that I should do what works for me, not others.
In my long-lasting battle with acknowledging my efforts when drawn against others, I’ve learned a few tricks along the way to keep myself grounded in my reality. Whenever I am intimidated by other people’s productivity, guiding myself through each of these steps helps me shed my fears and place my trust in the process that works for me to take me to the end goal.
I Am My True Benchmark for Comparison
The level of productivity that works for me depends on my capabilities and limits. When setting productivity goals, I have to respect those limits on what my body and mind can endure. I can’t expect myself to not burn out after a high productivity routine because “it worked for that successful person”.
While I know all this is true, sometimes I find it hard not to compare the average amount of work I complete during a day to the amount of work others are able to complete. In the past, I blindly adopted daily work routines others followed in the hope of reaching a higher level of productivity avoid being left behind. When I couldn’t reach those targets at the end of the day, I would berate myself for my lack of discipline and focus.
At that time, I failed to understand that those routines were tailored to suit other people’s capabilities and limits. The fact that I couldn’t handle their intensity and speed of work was not my flaw, I was just different.
There may be a person who could write a 2000 word article in just 2 hours, but I should never try to hold myself to the same standard. If what delivers me the best results is allocating time longer than 2 hours, I have to respect that limit.
Now, I don’t measure my progress by how closer I am to achieve a productivity goal someone else has set. I measure my progress in comparison to where I was yesterday. If I see I have written a better article than yesterday, despite how long it had taken me, I know I’m on the right path to reach my end goal. It may take longer to finally get there, but I will reach that point with my mental and physical health and love for the work intact.
There’s No Harm in Pushing Myself an Inch Out Of the Comfort Zone
While respecting personal limits is important when setting productivity goals, there’s no harm in pushing yourself an inch away from what I’m comfortable with. I may not be able to follow productivity advice that tells me to “write 1000 words in one hour”. But I can ask myself to follow a watered-down version of it.
When I heard advice like “write 1000 words in one hour”, my first reaction used to be, “There are people who can write 1000 words in one hour? How can I ever be good enough as a writer?”. I have since learned to not use the productivity standards of others as my benchmark. But it still stings a little to realize I am starting out with an initial disadvantage.
I don’t know if I’ll ever reach a point I can write 1000 words in an hour (unless it’s a mess made of mismatched sentences and ideas). But I can ask myself to aim a little higher than where I am right now. Of course, if I see forcing myself that inch away from the comfort zone hurts the final outcome, I can always go back to my comfort zone. But there’s no harm in trying to see if something works for me.
Take a Break From Social Media
No matter how I tell myself I should not compare my level of productivity to that of highly productive, successful people, there are times I slip up and go down that path of doom. Seeing too many people on social media sharing (and bragging about) their highly productive routines when I’m particularly frustrated with myself is usually the cause of my demise.
A lot of people I follow on social media share their success routines and productivity goals on social media. On regular days, they are a source of motivation and inspiration to me. But once in a while, there comes a point where hearing too many productivity stories paves way for the voice in my head to remind me how I am not and will never be good enough.
At this point, the only solution that gives me space to start seeing things clearly again is taking a break from social media and too many examples of other people’s high levels of productivity. When I’m at a better place to weather the productivity talk, I make my come back to social media.
Productivity is a huge talking point when it comes to success. But productivity for productivity’s sake is not a sustainable solution for working life in the long term. Instead, you have to discover and accept the productivity level that works for you.
If your productivity level is quite low, you have to find a way to accept it without feeling guilty. Or without being fazed by other people’s high level of productivity.
The tricks I shared have helped me make my way back every time I take myself down a path of comparison. I hope they will help you too to accept your level of productivity in a world where high productivity is lauded as the only way to success.
