Why Productivity is Not Enough to Create the Life you Deserve.

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It’s easy to fill our time with tasks, to do's, worries, thoughts, and mindless social media scrolling sessions. Like gas in an enclosed container, "stuff" will always take up as much space in our life as we allow. And then it becomes wishful thinking to assume that we will ever live a life that is not “busy.” All “busy” really means is that we are consumed by these thoughts, feelings and behaviors and do not know how to move past, or separate ourselves, or to work more effectively within them.


From here, the idea of productivity was born. Being able to manage our time and energy most effectively to progress towards our goals and complete the tasks at hand more efficiently and with greater ease. This first step was excellent in the process of treating the disease of busyness. It forced people to use systems of delegation, automation, deleting, and prioritization. But productivity often misses some key concepts that can only be mastered when we take it to the next level of elevation -- Intentional Productivity.

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It’s Okay to Make Plans That Aren’t “Productive”

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Last week I had the opportunity to spend time with a dear friend and colleague — yay for vaccines and the opportunity to see people again in a safe way!

But interestingly, leading up to that day, I had a mix of emotions rumbling around in my brain. I was excited to see her, absolutely but was also anxious about taking this time away from when I “could” be working. One of the gifts of COVID for many of us is that invitation from our shame to go deeper into the should bank and really squeeze every ounce of the “you should be more productive” account.

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I thought about canceling a bunch of times. Not because I wanted to but because a major part of my brain thought I had to. But the more I took time to get clear on the roots of these different thoughts, the more I was able to decipher the voice behind the pressure, shame and guilt. It wasn't just one person or situation but a culmination of experiences and situations in which I felt like my worth was dependent on how much I did and what success I had. Situations where fun didn't translate to any social capital that felt relevant.

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How sad is that? To live in a brain that has internalized messages that engaging in social joy brings you no social capital?

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Stop Working Through Lunch!

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Working through lunch has been an issue we have faced for decades. The pressure to be productive and to "maximize your time" every second of the day has led many of us to see things like "lunch breaks" as optional, and instead, we find ourselves working through lunch or trying to multitask to get things done.

Now, I understand, it is not possible for us to always have time completely uninterrupted and devoted purely to fueling your body, but that is not the ask here. I want you to consider how often you are multitasking while eating throughout the day. Or, in many cases, how often are you skipping lunch or ignoring your body's hunger cues so you can keep working and "power through"?

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