How to Be More Productive Based on Your Current Productivity Style
I think there are basically two kinds of people I interact with in the U.S.: people who define themselves by being busy, and people who define themselves as not busy enough. I’m not saying that either of these groups actually are overly busy or not but I do think it’s rare for people to define themselves as being somewhere in the middle or more balanced. When people ask “How are you?”, “Ugh I’ve been so busy” “Oh I’ve done nothing today” are painfully familiar answers right? Or worse “I’m doing fine”, which is basically a non-answer. We always feel like we are doing too much or too little.
On top of this, once you put yourself in one of these categories, it’s often hard to change. If you think of yourself as lazy, then there’s no harm in spending yet another straight weekend glued to the couch. If you think of yourself as busy, then it can be hard to take any breaks at all, often to the detriment to your health or relationships.
Ultimately, our most productive self comes from a place of balance. A balance of doing and not. Thinking and dreaming. Moving and resting. However, objects in motion want to stay in motion, objects at rest want to stay at rest. People tend to be the same.
I’ll start with the people who define themselves as ‘too busy’ since that’s the camp I fall into. If I decide something needs to be done, I am consequently overwhelmed by the feeling that it must be done rightthisverymoment. I pride myself on getting a ton of things done every day, on picking up activities and hobbies, on packing my travel schedule. However, when I give myself a new goal or problem to solve, it is difficult for me to give it the time and energy it deserves since I don’t feel I have enough time for any one thing and I am in a constant state of anxiety about fitting in all the things I want to do.
Although I would constantly like to be pushing my productivity, I cannot. If I become too busy, something inevitably forces me to slow down. Maybe I get injured, maybe I get sick, maybe something gets stuck at work, maybe (god forbid) my laptop decides it needs to install fifty updates right before I go into a meeting, or maybe I run into a problem that simply cannot be outworked.
Objects in motion don’t stay in motion in the real world because of friction. You throw a ball on the floor and it will eventually stop rolling due either to the traction against the floor or perhaps a wall or object that stands in its way. Similarly, for people, there is no way to constantly be in motion, you’ll eventually run into some sort of friction.
But this pattern is difficult to break. It is easy to feel as though you need to keep going no matter the cost - there is always more to be done, even if most of it is inane. Thus, when some sort of friction does slow you down it causes mostly frustration and anxiety rather than relief at being given a break. Consequently, taking breaks ends up getting associated more with negative feelings and prevents a state of total relaxation.
We know that relaxation and play are important in our daily lives to maintain our health and sharpness. They open the mind, allow for new perspectives, and create calmness. Rest allows the body to repair and refresh to tackle things with full strength. Without breaks, it can be easy to fall into a ‘productivity’ spiral that will really only lead to burnout.
On the other side of the spectrum, there are people that feel they don’t do enough. They believe they’re only doing the bare minimum, that they are not doing enough for their goals. They might have no problem taking more breaks than the previous group but they too have a set of habits that is difficult to break. They might experience dissatisfaction about where they are in their lives and even for all of their rest, they may also not feel truly invigorated. Objects in rest remain at rest - unless acted on by an unbalanced force.
If you think of yourself this way, I believe you have two options. The first is to make peace with your life. If you are getting everything you need to get done, done, there is no reason to push yourself even harder - especially if you’re already pretty happy. Busy culture is pervasive, but there’s literally no reason to give yourself extra anxiety if you have everything you want. I envy you.
The second option is only if you have some goals for yourself that you desperately want and you know you’re slacking on. In this case, you need to find an unbalanced force to knock you out of your state of rest.
You already have an advantage over the other group in the sense that you don’t want to bother with needless work. You’re better at knowing when to pivot, take a break, or even quit altogether. Getting yourself to start something new is the hard part and keeping the momentum can be even harder. To get yourself to start, you have to come up with a reason that outweighs what you’ve currently been doing - that is your unbalanced force.
To keep going, I believe it’s important to remember that everything can still happen at your own pace. Just because you’ve started doesn’t mean you have to rush to finish it, nor does it mean you can’t take breaks or come back to it. New activities and goals take time regardless of your style, and getting discouraged is part of the process. The strength that the first group has that is valuable here is to push yourself to try something new and commit to it. If you’re honest with yourself, you’ll be able to tell if you’re truly going too hard - you already have a better rest mechanism built in. The key is to not get too complacent in your current life if you are truly trying to make a change.
This is an attribute of other places in the world that I really wish we could carry over to the U.S. Yes, those places still have their flaws, but for the most part, their overall culture is not one of overwork, nor is it one of laziness. People there are encouraged to get their work done, but also encouraged to take vacation, explore, and cultivate their relationships. Balance is celebrated and therefore sought after. We are making some motions towards this in the U.S. but since we are a culture based around work, any shift is still mostly dependent on what companies decide to promote. I, for one, am completely invested in this shift towards a more balanced lifestyle and I’m going to do everything I can to create one for myself.
If you consider yourself balanced, I would really love to hear from you and learn how you’ve cultivated your life or your mindset in order to view yourself in that light. There’s many different ways to do it and I’m sure there are some I have not tried and would love to learn. Good luck!
Trying to find balance when I travel - between exploring and relaxing