Toxic Productivity: Why You Should be Doing Less

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Do you find your self in constant motion, always trying to meet some unspoken bar that’s been set for how productive you “need” to be every single day? All at the expense of your mental and physical health, and likely even your social life. If this hits close to home, you may be a victim of toxic productivity and will want to continue reading. So that you can learn about more signs of toxic productivity, what causes it, and learn how to establish a healthy, balanced level of productivity.

Signs of Toxic Productivity

You might feel like I’m calling you out in this section. You know what? I am! I’m holding up the mirror for you to take a look and assess your situation little closer. So let’s talk about the signs that point to toxic productivity.

• Perfectionism: You have a deep seated desire to be flawless in every aspect of what you do. Be at the gym every morning bright and early, drink your post workout smoothie, do a 12 step skin care routine, and make your house spotless. All before 10am. Anything less is unacceptable.
  
• Burning the Candle at Both Ends: You constantly feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to complete your perpetually growing to-do list. So you trade rest and self care for even more hours of productivity.
  
• Feelings of Guilt and Shame: If you ever do take a short rest from being productive you feel guilty for not having your entire house spotless and organized by the end of every week. You set your own bar astronomically high, and are incredibly hard on yourself whenever you don’t reach that bar.
  
• Burnout: Feelings of complete physical and emotional exhaustion. Your constant productivity does not bring you joy, yet you still push to be your most productive self. To the point of burning out.
  
• Neglecting Self-Care: You tell yourself that you “don’t have time” to go to the gym or get an adequate night’s sleep. That being productive and getting work done, either at your work place or at home, takes priority over your own needs.

Causes of Toxic Productivity

What leads us to this point of toxic productivity at the expense of our own health and well being? There are a few driving factors for toxic productivity. Once you become aware of what these causes are, you will be able to better navigate your way to a healthier level of productivity.

• Societal Pressures: Social media is heavily to blame for this aspect. If your drive to become overly productive didn’t come from a friend or family members influence, it’s likely that you’ve witnessed incredibly “productive” individuals on social media platforms that appear to have their life together and live a perpetually productive life without even breaking a sweat. Now you feel like if these people can do it (no matter how staged it truly is behind the scenes) you should be able to be that productive as well.
  
• Fear of Failure: You may have got it engrained in your head that your worth is determined by how productive you mange to be in your life. That if you fail to meet “the standard” then you’ve failed.
  
• Unrealistic Goals: You’ve set yourself some incredibly ambitious goals of productivity that are not very realistic. It’s an easy trap to fall for, but one that will certainly bite you in the butt.
  
• Lack of Boundaries: You have trouble telling people “no”, and will take on too many additional tasks. On top of the tasks that you already have lined up for yourself in your personal/home life.

Consequences of Toxic Productivity

Now we’ll talk about the things you are experiencing that you probably didn’t even realize were a direct result of toxic productivity habits. Consequences such as an unwanted decreased in productivity, health issues, troubled relationships, and an overall drop in the quality of the tasks that you complete.

• Decreased Productivity: Ironically, toxic productivity can have the opposite effect on your productivity levels. It leads to an overall decrease in productivity due to burnout and exhaustion.
  
• Health Problems: Your physical and mental health will take a beating from toxic productivity and you will face issues such as anxiety, depression and other chronic illness. (i.e body aches, weight gain/loss, vitamin deficiencies, etc.)
  
• Strained Relationships: When you’re constantly prioritizing your productivity levels over other important aspects of your life, such as socialization and connections with loved ones, those relationships will begin to become strained. Not to mention any emotional turbulence you face when in burnout that might directly impact your close relationships.
  
• Decrease in Quality of Work: This can apply to work in your place of employment or in your home and personal life. In an effort to maintain high productivity levels you might find yourself rushing through tasks neglecting to give these tasks the full attention that they need. Leading to poor quality of work that only gets worse the more exhausted you become.
  

Overcoming Toxic Productivity

Now let’s talk about how you can get yourself out of this toxic productivity cycle and find a healthy work-life balance. Many people believe that they need to ‘do more’ to resolve problems. However, in this case, we’re going to discuss how doing less and changing your priorities can bring positive effects into your life.

• Learn to Set Realistic Goals: Focus on setting SMART goals. These are goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound.
  
• Prioritize Self-Care: Schedule time for yourself where you make it a priority to rest, do things that promote relaxation, and even put time into hobbies that you enjoy doing.
  
• Practice Mindfulness Daily: Focus on being present and living in the moment. Gratitude journaling can really help with this. Any journaling can be therapeutic really. just you and a physical notebook and ink pen is a great way to escape the digital world and feel human for a little while.
  
• Challenge Your Negative Thoughts: Identify and address negative beliefs you have about productivity. Such as how you view yourself if you don’t achieve your own desired level of productivity. Journaling can’t help in this aspect as well.
  
• Seeking Support: Talk to your close friends and family, or even your therapist about how you feel about your envisioned levels of productivity and how your health and well being have been impacted.
  

Conclusion

Remember, there’s nothing wrong with striving to be productive. However, it’s essential to find a healthy balance that doesn’t lead to burnout or negative consequences. Recognizing the signs of toxic productivity is the first step. From there, you can identify the underlying causes and create a personalized plan to overcome these challenges.

I personally learned the hard way about the dangers of toxic productivity. It wasn’t until I was on the brink of burnout that I realized the toll it was taking on my physical and mental health. By prioritizing self-care, setting realistic goals, and seeking support, I was able to find a healthier and more sustainable approach to work.

My only hope is that this blog post leads you to a more balanced daily life that is maintainable and enjoyable for you. Have you experienced toxic productivity before? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments and tell me about how you overcame it and found balance.