In today’s fast-paced world, where everything that isn’t important is urgent, the idea for this post came about by pure chance just a couple of weeks ago. It was Friday afternoon and, by chance, I ran into some old friends I hadn’t seen in a long time. On the spur of the moment, we decided to sit down for a drink at a nearby terrace with the idea of catching up. After a while, possibly sooner than expected, I decided to leave, but not before explaining everything I had to do before the end of the day. I was enjoying the company, the conversation and the setting, but I was clearly feeling anxious about the goals I had set for myself. Obviously, my companions noticed. That’s when one of them said something that struck me: ‘The obsession with being productive all the time makes no sense.’
I sat back down. The conversation continued along those lines, and several questions arose that made me think. What would happen if we decided – sometimes – to waste time on purpose? To what extent can we ‘push ourselves’ and leave those non-priority tasks for a more suitable time without feeling the dreaded pangs of remorse? Does anyone ask us to do this, or do we impose it on ourselves to calm that feeling of guilt that arises within us?
To-do list
One of the symptoms of people with a certain obsession with productivity is the fact that they have an endless to-do list. And by this I don’t mean, by any means, solely and exclusively the work environment, although in many cases, both sides, personal and professional, coexist. Over the next few days, deeply intrigued by this topic, I asked a friend who, at first glance, could fit that profile.
She confessed that, in her case, at work, she generally knew what she had to do and in what order. For her, the real problem lay outside the office. Having an ‘empty’ or ‘blank’ afternoon caused her a level of anxiety that she was not willing to accept. In addition to the two master’s degrees she had obtained in the last five years, she signed up for all kinds of courses to fill her hours and her schedule. Tidying and re-tidying the house, moving a bookcase or piece of furniture around every week…
Conclusions
In short, she imposed all kinds of tasks on herself to help her feel good and ward off the feeling that she was wasting her time.
The symptoms can appear in many other ways: increased irritability, exhaustion, insomnia… Always being ‘busy’ is another major sign that our relationship with time is perhaps not the best it could be.
Be that as it may, the good news is that there seem to be several ways to remedy this: reflecting on what really makes us want to stay busy all the time, trying to give each task or project the priority it truly deserves, resting in a relaxed manner without any other purpose, and enjoying hobbies without trying to go further are some of the ways that can help us reduce this mental burden.
Ultimately, what seems to be abundantly clear is that taking care of ourselves (i.e. exercising, resting, eating healthily, nurturing relationships and making time for leisure) makes us more productive in the long run.
At the end of the day, we cannot forget the saying, ‘when everything is urgent, nothing is urgent’.