Is It Time To Stop Talking About Productivity?

“Presence is far more intricate and rewarding an art than productivity.” ~ Maria Popova

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself what it means to be productive and get stuff done?

We live in a world that is preoccupied with productivity. Like hamsters on the proverbial wheel, we can be stuck in a loop of eternally creating and producing. We're obsessed with achieving something. So many of us are still chasing the gold stars from school. I achieved therefore I am worthy.

Completing a task, achieving something tangible, having an objective output, working hard, getting through the to-do list. That's what it means to be productive, right?

The standard productivity definition is the rate at which a person does useful work. Simple enough. The faster you produce something, the more productive you are. The ultimate goal of productivity, and productivity advice for that matter, is to be as efficient as possible turning inputs into outputs.

This is a pretty good definition if you are producing widgets in a factory. It's so much less relevant in a modern creative economy facing the threat of catastrophic climate change because all that production requires resources that we are using faster than they can replenish.

And just as we are polluting the planet, so is our fixation on productivity polluting our lives as we burn through the resources of our time, energy and presence.

The whole concept of productivity is an economic one to describe the efficiency of industrial output. And I am over trying to apply it to my life.

I don't want to be productive.

I want to present. I want to be intentional about how I spend my time. I want to be creative. I want to be connected. I want to learn new things. I want to play.

As far as I know, you only get one go at this thing called life (at least in this particular physical form). You may not have full freedom of choice to do exactly what you want, when you want, whether that's because you need to make money or care for loved ones. But chances are, you do have some choice about how to spend your precious time on this planet and using your energy and focus for the things that make a difference in your life and the lives of the people you care about.

Because that's easier to write than it is to do, I will continue to show up with my best takes on how to get stuff done in a way that feels good and that leaves you feeling fulfilled rather than drained. And I would love it if we cared as much about the quality of our presence as we did the quantity of our productivity.

“Stop measuring days by degree of productivity and start experiencing them by degree of presence.”
~ Alan Watts

I'd love to hear how this resonates for you and if you have any questions.