It’s okay to take a breather!
Can chasing productivity be counter-productive?
“How to get the perfect body while in quarantine?” .“10 online courses to enhance your technical skills during the lockdown” .“Must read books to make the most of this free time” — every morning I wake up to an alarming number of such notifications. It makes me sit up in cold sweat, grab for a pen and paper and… stare at the blank sheet, racking my brain to come up with a ‘to do list’ to keep me ‘productive’ through the day; i do not want to spiral into existential dread, as the rest of the world finishes their 100 books in 100 days challenge. Even as the world witnesses an unprecedented global pandemic and its effects on an individual’s mental health, the FOMO on the happy dance challenge, the latest Dalgona recipe, and the #NoBakeBananaBread is real. All of this has only added to the pressure to make the most of one’s time; the burden to keep working on our self improvement against all odds, haunts many of us.
Staying indoors, catering to basic household chores and getting some time off seems to not be enough in this ‘fast-paced’ environment that we are all in. While it can be argued that having tasks at hand is a way to keep ourselves distracted and occupied and not worry about when all of this will be over, this productivity contest is turning into yet another rat race, and the ‘challenges’ on social media is the cheese hanging from the mousetrap (Meluch). What is all this ‘productivity’ fuss really about? Where is it coming from, and why is it leading to ‘productivity shame’? The obsession with being productive, even during a pandemic, stems from years of indoctrination that the only way to remain socially relevant at every step of the way is to be constantly working to achieve targets, no matter the odds. As a result, individuals often chase this idea of productivity, hard work and perfectionism while being completely ignorant of the toll it takes on our mental and physical health.
As if keeping up with our primary professional commitments was not being difficult enough in the ‘new normal’, millenials seem to be maximising on their ‘productivity’ by pursuing several ‘side hustles’.
Dissatisfied with their full-time jobs, more and more youngsters are taking up freelance opportunities related to their general interests and hobbies in pursuit of happiness, passion and some quick extra bucks. As much as these reasons seem justified, ‘side-hustles’ are simply another product of the capitalist machinery, where so many people find themselves in yet another pressure cooker with a very thin line between leisure and work.
The idea of working hard and keeping busy has developed into a norm in the current generation who are now wired to hustle.
The romanticism attached with being a ‘workaholic’, being constantly busy and ‘utilizing’ every minute of the day often leads to burning out, eventually being counterproductive, resulting in fatigue and stress.
Nonetheless, we unwittingly participate in a socio-economic culture which glorifies and normalises such behaviour; the message is loud and clear: unless an individual is making progress in materialistic terms, they don’t seem to add any value. Determined not to be dismissed as worthless, we succumb to a life dictated by the whims of a capitalist cogwheel, where creating a saleable ‘product’ using minimum time and maximum productivity is the ultimate goal (Zantal-Wiener).
This normalisation has also become a yardstick of fulfilment and we tend to shame those who don’t seem to live up to these expectations. The easier technology has made our lives the more difficult we find to stay happy, and the more vulnerable we are to feeling anxious, under-confident and depressed.
While our intention to be productive is to ensure an effective utilisation of the limited time, it is largely driven by our conviction that this effort will also get us closer to our dream of being successful. We have grown up to believe that hard work is a pre-requisite for success, however, it would be naive to assume that hard work alone can lead to success; without the motivation, skills, a healthy body, mind and soul it is unlikely we can get to where we want. More often than not productivity and busy-ness are considered synonymous. The idea of toxic productivity is to ensure that every minute of the time available is utilised in the best possible manner to derive quantifiable outcomes. However, it’s interesting to note that while being working hard presumes being busy, on our toes at all times, in order to be productive sometimes working smart is more effective(Spencer).
While participating in this rat race, there is something else that we keep chasing to win and that is ‘perfectionism’. However, once chasing perfectionism becomes a habit, it gives birth to that critical inner voice which stems from various psychological issues like depression, anxiety, OCD, self-harm, early mortality, sometimes leading to suicide. A study by Curran and Hill, comparing perfectionism across generations found a statically significant increase of perfectionist tendencies among more recent undergraduates in the US, UK and Canada. What is alarming is that it is also perhaps making younger generations more prone to psychological issues (Curan & Hill 2009). When perfectionists win, they start feeling more confident and certain about their virtues of hard work but when they fail, they not only feel ashamed about failing, rather feel ashamed about who they are. This leads them into a vicious cycle of failure and self-harm (Ruggeri).
So how do we break the chain?
Identifying the difference between hard work and smart work is one of the critical elements to perform the task at hand without burning oneself out. However, it is important to understand your true calling and not give into any societal pressures or norms. Additionally, it is crucial to break the chain of the idea that having free time is somehow counterproductive. In fact, it is essential to spare time for oneself in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle and find that emotional balance.
For all the creative enthusiasts out there, please understand that creativity thrives only when you let loose and trying too hard to be productive plummets you from pursuing your creative endeavours. So trying to sail in these two boats together is not the best of decisions (Webber).
The notion of productivity and constant hard work has become a very common phenomenon in our lives and it often stems from our fear of falling behind. While the ongoing pandemic is a thriving example of such behaviour, life before the world came to still, was no different. We have made peace with living under pressure and made ourselves and our well-being secondary. While it is important to work towards one’s goals, the glorification of hustling is becoming toxic. Perhaps what we need is to start finding meaning and joy in experiences and start appreciating quality over quantity. It’s okay to relax once in a while, take a step back and spend some me-time because no one’s perfect and life is not a rat race, after all.
Read Wake me up When the Lecture Ends by Smith Shah
Works cited:
4) Curran, Thomas, and Andrew P. Hill. “Perfectionism Is Increasing over Time: A Meta-Analysis of Birth Cohort Differences from 1989 to 2016.” Psychological Bulletin, vol. 145, no. 4, 2019, pp. 410–429., doi:10.1037/bul0000138
About the Author:
Gouri Natani is a Management student, an ex-consultant and a Young India Fellow. Her quest for learning and deep faith in her instincts inspires her to take life as it comes. She is a trained Kathak dancer and also loves baking and painting.
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