Why the Productivity Loop Leads to Unhappiness

Phew… I am exhausted!

I’ve just sat down after a series of jobs, that are the continuation of another series from a few days before, which were only possible because of a series a few days before that. Unfortunately, I can’t say that these tasks are complete or done, but there is progress and that I take great joy in. The fact is that I’ve been quite productive lately and society teaches us that productivity is an absolute, unyielding virtue that we should all strive for.

Society is Wrong

The productivity loop that is taught to us from childhood is a breeding ground for guilt and anxiety, doing for the sake of doing is incredibly unhealthy because the truth of the matter is that if we set lofty expectations for what we want (or think we need) to achieve very day, all we are doing is setting ourselves up for failure. What’s the point in that?

So, here I am. I’ve got a few jobs done and I‘m sitting here writing… it’s even more funny because what I’m writing about is the problem with productivity. I’ve got some things done, I’m doing more, and I am specifically pointing out that that’s bad.

Well, I am and I’m not; the work I did was necessary. Not out of guilt, compulsion or anything else but because there was a functional need, and if I couldn’t have gotten it done I would (try) to move on and come back to another time.

As for why I am writing? It’s my livelihood, and I enjoy it! It’s how I decompress and process thoughts.

This is the thing; productivity is difficult to nail down. People define it differently, and all anyone really seems sure of is that we should be (a myth in itself).

For me, genuine productivity is getting something done that needs to be done. Not that I think it does, but it actually does, fact.

The Productivity Guilt Loop

However, I’m not immune to the guilt that comes from the ‘did I do enough today’ thought and if I don’t manage to get something that I identified as needing doing done, I do get anxious and uneasy. This comes from a fear of falling behind, of being overwhelmed (and honestly, I am easily overwhelmed).

Even when I work, when I write; I feel these twinges of guilt and anxiety hit. This is my job, so it is productive by just about any definition but because I enjoy doing it, and I am doing something it and there are other things that need doing too… bam!

Productivity guilt!

It sucks, I don’t like it, but it is a conditioned behaviour and one that I am learning to overcome. Because here’s the kicker; if I was doing that other thing and not writing, I’d be hit by productivity guilt for not working too.

Productivity is a paradoxical loop that keeps you trapped.

Be Practical About Productivity

I say that I am not immune to productivity guilt, and that is true, but I have been working towards loosening the headspace it is given. As with any learned behaviour (thanks society), this is difficult, but I have made progress.

Actually, a lot.

I kind of mentioned this but I rarely feel guilt for not being productive, what is more common for me is anxiety over having too much too deal with and getting overwhelmed. Although, there is a tie here, these are not the same thing.

Whilst the two can get muddled and conflated, the difference is that one is feeling cruddy for not doing-for-the-sake of doing and the other is a practical fear of having too much to do. The latter feeling is one I need to work.

Sometimes things need to be done; you do need cutlery, room to move and personal hygiene but the thing is it comes down to quality not quantity. Knowing your limits and keeping a healthy grasp on what actually needs to be done and not.

In other words, ask yourself if what you are doing or think you should be doing have any actual genuine value.

The Productivity Loop Leads to Perpetual Unhappiness

The realisation that really redefined my relationship with productivity though was this; the productivity loop, is a pleasure loop.

What I mean by this, is that happiness and pleasure are not the same thing. Happiness is a general state of mind, a state of being. Pleasure is a high, a boost. When you are productive, you get a little boost, a few endorphins, some fleeting pleasure, but guess what? It passes. If you remain in that loop, you are only continuing a cycle of micro-highs rather than achieving anything to improve your actual quality of life.

Now, this loop… this productivity loop, this pleasure loop, has your brain go from high to low and when you are low, you crave the high. What’s more, is that the more time you spend on it, the more time and energy is taken away from things that achieve any actual happiness.

Perhaps it’s time that we as a society looked at addressing what it means to be productive and accept that there is a toxic myth around the current definition. We should instead put stock and value in something that leads to actual happiness, rather than promoting the false idea that being caught in the productivity loop is actually somehow virtuous.