Productivity Tips
The Dark Side of Productivity
Your journey into Productivity can easily lead you off a cliff
If you can’t enjoy what you have now, then what was the point of all the productivity hacks and tricks?
Many productivity hacks, including the ones I write about, talk about squeezing as much as you can out of the time. But they don’t talk about the danger of putting too much work in the hours.
My experience in productivity goes like this: Work hard using the tips you’ve learned. Realize that you’ve finished your task in shorter time than before, then you keep working because it feels great to knock off tasks from the list.
Productivity is a hedonic treadmill.
It’s an amazing feeling to complete tasks and having a grasp on what life throws at you, but the problem with a treadmill is that it keeps going if you’re not paying attention to it. It will not stop unless you realize you’ve been running for 20 years in the same spot and forgot what it’s like to hang out with friends or spend a day in the park.
When we blindly pursue productivity, we lose sight of the present for the sake of working more. To be more productive even if that means losing more time with the life we have now.
Productivity becomes optimized workaholism.
What can we do to avoid running on the treadmill forever?
The first step in solving a problem is recognizing there is one.
Recognize when your journey in productivity turns into efficient workaholism is a good start. Then comes the hard part.
Slow down. Slow down and look around. Remember where you are and everyone who has helped you get where you are today.
Marcus Aurelius wrote “Give yourself a gift, the present moment.”
Look around, breathe. Notice how long a single breath takes.
Take some time to enjoy how far you’ve come and what you have before it’s gone.
Because one day it will be.
