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I'm a Psychologist interested in learning, study techniques, and productivity. I write articles to inspire and help people manage their lives and learn new things.
In the last few years, I noticed many influencers talking on social media about productivity and how to do more in less time.
Not only do I think this approach is wrong.
I think it's dangerous for our mental health.
In this article, I will tell you why.
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The Main Problem With Modern Productivity Is Comparing Ourself With Others
After watching some productivity gurus on YouTube I feel bad.
I feel like I'm not productive enough because someone is doing more than me.
Am I lazy? — I think
The answer is no.
Simply because everyone has different lifestyles.
Perhaps you are working full-time, you have a family, etc.
So if you can't read 50 books per year (one per week) it is not because you're not productive.
Actually, working full-time, having a family, and finding time to read a book is SUPER productive.
But we constantly compare ourselves to others, which makes us feel inferior to them.
Productivity Is Not About Doing More, but Doing Without Getting Stressed
While doing many things in a few time is remarkable, overwork can lead to burnout.
Burnout Syndrome has increased exponentially since the beginning of the century, mainly because of overworking.
When you are in burnout, you feel like your brain can't process information. You feel burnt.
When you try to do more things in less time, in a way that starts to affect your daily life, I call it toxic productivity.
And this shouldn't be like this.
Productivity is about doing quality things without getting stressed.
For example, in my first year studying Psychology I got stressed in every exam period. Although I was doing quality work at a good time (summaries, notes, etc.), I finished exhausted and even ill.
I decided to change my approach and to study smarter and not harder.
I built an academic workflow, and now I can study many things, in good time, without getting stressed. That's what's productive.
But there is another thing that I see in many productivity gurus, and that is that most of them do not know the limits of our brains.
Most Productivity Techniques Will Not Work Because of How Our Brain Works
Take focus as an example.
You may come across articles or people who say they can focus for hours on a task. However, that is not possible.
At some point, they will lose focus, and that is normal.
Some people can indeed mind wandering more than others, making them to focus more time in some tasks, but that's another story.
Remembering is another case where the brain tricks us into thinking we are not productive enough.
But the thing is that our brain is a forgetting machine.
We didn't evolve to remember the past but to predict the future using what we learned.
So if our productivity approach is to focus and retain as much as we can, we will not only fail but become stressed.
So let's keep our brain in mind when trying to be productive.
Toxic productivity is dangerous.
While it's admirable to try to get a lot done in just a few hours, it's not the best approach when it comes to being more productive.
Instead, it is better to try to manage your time and do quality work without stressing yourself.
That's the true essence of productivity.
You're not a machine.
You are a person with a different lifestyle, responsibilities and who tries to manage and use your free time for your personal development.
So please don't forget your mental health.
If you don't take care of it, then it's not productivity.
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Thanks for reading!
See you,
Axel