You don’t have to do more
What’s the intention that lies behind ‘trying to be more productive’?
The way we’ve been conditioned to define productivity is the pursuit of more, and more, and more. Somehow, we’ve come to believe that this is the path to happiness — but more frequently, it leads to unhappiness, denying your humanity, losing touch of what matters to you, disconnecting yourself from others, and experiences of stress and burnout. We intellectually understand that we can’t just keep adding more and more to our plates, and yet it’s often so difficult to step away from that pursuit.
Instead, what if true productivity is about crafting an experience that helps you to achieve your goals, but is also sustainable, enjoyable, and meaningful? Not just prioritizing what we want to achieve, but also honoring the other parts of you, doing what you love, engaging in the world, finding joy, slowing down, spending time with loved ones, and giving back. For, as the research tells us, it’s often these parts of our lives that make us both happier and, paradoxically, help us to be effective in the work that we do.
You don’t have to keep turning up the volume. Instead, consider trying to make a piece of music — a melody of your own making, and a harmony of both effort and rest, work and play, trying and reflecting, sound and silence.
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