It’s summer. Chill out on productivity.
10 signs that you might be a productivity addict.
In Ayurveda, the fire element dominates the summer. Not hard to imagine as everything around us starts to sizzle. For those with a fiery nature, it’s all about keeping intensity in check. It’s about remembering to soften any rigid routines and stern expectations of ourselves. Some of us, you know who you are, tend to be all work and no play. This kind of drive can only head down the road to burn out. We all long for those carefree summer days of childhood. While we might not be able to take the whole summer off, we can refresh our routines and give our lives some breathing room.
We have evolved into a society over-ripe on productivity. Just as much as any other addiction, some people get addicted to productivity. We get that little dopamine hit with everything we check off the to-do list. However, there is danger in this never-ending cycle. There will always be a new deadline to set and more things to do. As we give greater priority to items on our to-do list over spending time tending to our own real human needs, there is friction in our work life balance. The imbalance takes us from friction to fire, from fire to burn out.
The real damage is done when we let external factors determine our self-worth. Our value can’t be measured by the number of hours worked or the tasks we plowed through. It is “self” worth. That means it is defined from within as an intrinsic value. We are worthy without needing to prove ourselves to anyone else, including ourselves.
Signs that you might be a productivity addict.
You might be a productivity addict if you …
Constantly worry about wasting time.
Beat yourself up for not crossing enough off your “to-do” list.
Like telling others about how busy you are.
Limit socializing, because of not wanting to get behind in your work.
Are unable to find joy in anything other than work.
Go into a shame spiral with every lapse in productivity.
Think slowing down to live in the moment feels like a luxury.
Make excuses to your loved ones that you just need to do… one more thing.
Look for one more task to accomplish in unexpected free time, rather than resting or doing something fun.
Always focus on the future.
What if you realized and believed that your self-worth is unconditional? Your worth as a person is not defined by any amount of money in the bank, car in the driveway, or title at a job. Our views on value get muddied in external expectations. Mired in false beliefs about the measures of success. You do not have to accomplish x, y, or z to be worthy. What you accomplish on any given day does not equate to the value of who you are as a person. You deserve no more and no less than anyone else.
Take a breath. Read that again. 👆 Can you believe that your self-worth is unconditional? We all search for a pure acceptance and love that is unconditional…what if that elusive unconditional love is hiding in your own unconditional self-worth?
Creation over production.
Creativity is sometimes elusive. It requires a little spaciousness. We are more open to receive than when restrained and restricted. Ideas begin to percolate and the mind begins to move in unexpected ways. A resolution may come faster and more brilliantly than if we stayed stuck in one way of thinking. The creative mind needs a little time to be free and a break from linear thinking in order to roam. Mundane and low pressure tasks can spark a flash of creative inspiration. It’s why so many of us get great ideas in the shower. We aren’t really trying to accomplish too much beyond that clean fresh feeling.
What would it take to invite in just a bit more spontaneity? To ditch linear thinking for a bit of breezy creative flow? What are you missing out on if you keep your time and energy so strict?
Purpose over productivity.
Have you ever looked back at a “to-do” list from 3 months ago and recognized that all of it ended up being irrelevant. What you thought was so necessary was really just busy work. It was a use of your time, but it wasn’t really vital to where you are now. The key here is to root your productivity in your purpose. Align your tasks with your values and prioritize what is really crucial to your own deep fulfillment. When we make a connection between what we are doing and who we truly are, we can spend our precious time in the alignment of our dharma. That is the ultimate productivity, to live in accordance with your own mission and meaning. Put purpose over productivity, then success isn’t a matter of the quantity of hours spent on any task, it is the quality of the time spent in the direction of a greater purpose.
Break the habit. Your Worth Is Not Defined by Your Productivity
Schedule downtime and stick to it.
When you meet someone ask first, what they like to do rather than how they earn a living. Place importance, value, and interest beyond work.
Affirm to yourself daily that what you’re doing is enough.
Stop taking on things that you don’t have interest in or the energy for, just to stay busy.
Take breaks to release the pressure. Weave self-care throughout your day. Always take a movement break and take time to eat a meal away from your work.
Stop multi-tasking.
Be willing to see that the success of your end goal may not be moving in from point A to Point B, but instead opening to a greater opportunity that shows up along the way.
Chill out on the need to compete.
There is nothing wrong with being productive. But are you being swallowed alive by this incessant drive. Sometimes no amount of forcing, controlling, or working will give us the outcome that we expect. Can you take a respite this summer and ease some of the intensity? The summer months are not a time to push extremes. The goals we set in play a few months or weeks ago are more apt to blossom with creativity. Be acutely aware of when you’re basing self-worth on your level of productivity and criticizing yourself for not getting enough done.
Be compassionate in your relationship to time passing. Time is a currency of more value than the dollar, spend it wisely. Remember you are inherently worth so much more than what you do. Simply said, you ARE enough.
