"Productive"

From a journal entry I started writing in April, 2022.

I heard an interesting theory not too long ago. I can’t remember if I learned it from a news publication I read from, or from one of the CBC Radio shows I often listen to. The theory was that modern society had become so obsessed with being productive that it was putting our wellbeing at risk.

I find this a very compelling theory. When I look at the society permeating life around me, it really does seem, more often, that thought is being given to how we can do more things faster. This, as opposed to how we can take time to do nothing and rest.

Some people, like certain elders of mine, might respond to this theory with “You just haven’t gotten used to the demands of full-time work yet”, or, “Plenty of time to sleep when you’re dead.” Now, I know that learning how to put in a full day’s work is an important part of living a fulfilling life. However, I’ve also come to learn that taking time to rest and recharge is important to such a life as well. What’s more, when it comes to knowing what the right time is to rest, and recognizing that I need it, I feel like advice has been hard to come by. Hard to come by, even from my elders.

When I get up in the morning and start my day, I’ve begun to feel, upon reflection, that I’m filled with a drive to accomplish as many things as possible. It feels like my mind begins to hum with all the possible such things they could be. As I’ve thought more about it though, I’ve realized that what my mind often doesn’t hum with are the possible options for resting and recharging. Specifically, I mean options I could observe over the day to keep up my productivity.

I wonder if this reflex is what has lead to me often feeling tired and unmotivated when I want to be productive. Perhaps I’m focusing so much on fulfilling this desire that I’m losing sight of the need to maintain my energy so I can fulfill it.

I can see this creating a vicious cycle, in how it will likely lead you to work until you crash. That is, if you work without keeping in mind the need to recharge. It also makes me wonder just how many people experience this nowadays. Perhaps it is the reason there are so many people who seem fixated on the question of why they aren’t as rested, and hence productive, as they could or should be.

This could also be why there seem to be so many news journals and blogs with advice on “improving your productivity”. Specifically, ones worded so they emphasize continuing to work, rather than taking time away from it. I feel curious as to how many of those advice pieces are, or have been, supported by companies who focus more on profit than employee wellbeing.

In any event, there was a time about a week ago when, despite my efforts to keep working, I felt too worn out to do so. I hence decided (perhaps motivated by writing this very journal entry) that if I couldn’t be productive, then I should take time to not worry about being so. I didn’t work, but instead went for a walk in the woods. As I did so, I listened to a podcast episode about the early twentieth-century organization called “The B”, which helped lay the groundwork for the modern environmental movement.

I found the walk quite rejuvenating, as I also did the Easter get-together with my family on the Friday of that same week. I’m feeling a lot better as I finish this piece on the following Monday, and am thinking, if fatigue creeps into my life again, that I’ll take rest more seriously.

Maybe, if it does happen again, I’ll post a digital sticky-note on my computer desktop that says “Remember, you’re taking it easy for now. Wait a while to see how you feel.” That seems like a good approach.