Silence the toxic productivity mindset

Toxic productivity has been a hot topic recently. It’s the idea that we should be constantly working. An unease with not being ‘productive’. Feeling that nothing is worth doing unless it leads to an outcome or an achievement. Prioritising ‘doing’ over rest. For many people, toxic productivity means spending more time stressing about work than taking care of their well-being. 

Toxic productivity is also tied up with the idea that work should be hard. The idea that anything worth doing requires blood, sweat and tears. 

However, work might not feel hard if…

• You’re doing work you enjoy.
• You’re very skilled at your job.
• You work efficiently.
• You’re passionate about your work.
• You have clear priorities.
• You have a great work-life balance.

When you’re working on something you love and can do with ease, time flies. You can fill the day with activity and feel great!

But the toxic productivity mindset in the background says you should have worked harder. It says…

• What else should I be doing?
• I guess I can take more on.
• How can I make this more challenging?
• What haven’t I achieved today?

The toxic productivity mindset can convince us that unless we’ve felt busy, stressed, stretched, and challenged, we haven’t worked hard enough. 

Of course, hard work is valuable. Sometimes we need to go above and beyond to reach our goals or help our colleagues. But if we approach every day thinking that work should feel hard, we are setting ourselves up for burnout. 

The toxic productivity mindset focuses on what we haven’t achieved. It uses this as fuel to make us work longer and harder. To produce and achieve more. It doesn’t care about our well-being or happiness. It doesn’t care about how we might like to spend our time on things other than ‘being productive’. 

So what’s the solution?

How to overcome a toxic productivity mindset

Focusing on what we have achieved can keep the toxic productivity mindset in check. Here are some ways to help you do that:

Set morning intentions 

Setting key goals or priorities at the start of each day is a great way to set yourself up for this. Decide on the most important things to get done from your to-do list. Be realistic about what you can do. 

Reflect on your wins

At the end of the day, reflect on how well you’ve achieved your goals. Celebrate your achievements (no matter how small). Give yourself credit for the great work you’ve done. Recognise that you’ve done more than enough! 

Reward yourself

Instead of filling your remaining time (and headspace) with more tasks, take some time to reward yourself. Have a rest or do something fun! You’ll feel even better the next day for it. 

We don’t need to measure our success by how ‘hard’ we’ve worked or how ‘productive’ we’ve been. Instead, we can focus on how well we’ve achieved what we set out to achieve. And, how happy we are in our work. When we take care of our happiness and well-being, we can be positively productive.

If toxic productivity is affecting you, a coach can help you to:

• celebrate the things you have achieved
• identify your core priorities
• plan time for rest
• build fun into your routine
• silence the toxic productivity mindset!