Productivity isn’t everything
Why you shouldn’t work too hard
There is a drive to be productive at work, in some business sectors more than others — if you aren’t productive what are you even doing here?! Many of us want to have a productive day, each with our own definition of productivity, unless we only have our bosses’ take on what is productive. Pushing productivity (like a drug!) pushes us out of the way, we are not intended to be productive all the time. I hope this isn’t news to anyone, but the prevalence of toxic working practices, whether our own or imposed on us by work culture, suggests otherwise.
Pushing productivity (like a drug!) pushes us out of the way
There are two versions of this gospel of productivity, which is rather like the prosperity gospel — the one which urges us to be productive from 9 to 5, with bolt-on productivity as we check our emails on our smartphones while commuting and at the weekend (this isn’t productive by the way); or the other which tells us that with sufficient focus we can achieve all we really need to each day in an hour, or even less, see The Four Hour Workweek. It is in fact this latter message which begins to show us what is wrong with 100% 24/7 productivity.
Basically, you are not a machine, even if you’re on a production line. The human body has cycles, whether the monthly female hormonal cycle, everyone’s biorhythm, sugar/energy levels or the sleep cycle. These all work together to produce the less physical motivation/stress/boredom/creativity cycle. Also the human body itself, our productive ‘machine’, is not set up to churn out work all day long, without risk of RSI, headaches, migraine, musculoskeletal problems.
In short, we must take breaks, we must expect not to be productive all the time. Any work environment which doesn’t recognise and incorporate this is inhumane and bullying. Every time you don’t take a break when you ought to, i.e. every hour, you are reducing your productivity and damaging yourself. If you’re one of those people who doesn’t take a break you can test this for yourself. Force yourself (yes, I chose ‘force’ deliberately) to stop for a few minutes in the middle of the day and tune into how you feel. This might be inconclusive but you can try it again at the end of the day, do you crash out as soon as you get home, are you snappy with family, do you go to bed as soon as you have had dinner? These are signs that you are doing too much, or even that you are broken.
Force yourself to stop for a few minutes in the middle of the day and tune into how you feel.
It’s time to work smarter, not harder. And take it easy, it’s only work, don’t let it kill you. Learn about yourself, find out when you work best, when you are actually most productive and when you are most creative. Choose the work tasks that fit best with how you are throughout the day. Take proper breaks, have a walk at lunchtime. There are various tools and techniques, set a timer on your watch, computer or smartphone. But don’t chain yourself to your desk and work non-stop from when you arrive to when you leave.
take it easy, it’s only work, don’t let it kill you
You may have spotted that the secret of real productive work (there is no secret), is to work with yourself first. Don’t work in order to live, live so that you can work, and do all the other things that form part of your life. Take care of yourself as and when you arrive and leave, as you adjust to the rhythm of the day (e.g. low energy in the mid-afternoon) and to your own physical, mental and emotional rhythm. And distract your colleagues (usual caveats apply), they’re working too hard as well!
Don’t work in order to live, live so that you can work!
If you’re interested in working on this, and yourself, in fixing your business, or fixing how you turn up to your employer’s business, then add a comment below (I always read them), connect with me on Twitter, or send me an email.
Or you could take John Williams’ playful 5 Day Challenge.
