Rethinking Productivity
Escape the tyranny of your to-do list.
Your "to-do" list will never be finished. When you look at yours, what feelings does it conjure up? Stress? Overwhelm? Dread? Excitement? Pride?
We live in a culture that is obsessed with productivity. We want to optimize everything. There's constant pressure to produce more, bigger, better, faster. But at what cost? People are spent—physically, emotionally, and relationally. More isn't better. More is just more.
For many of us, to-do lists are a necessary evil, but we secretly love to hate them. One of the reasons that we often have such an ambivalent relationship with our to-do lists is that while they are often a source of stress, there can be something insidiously pleasing about them. We get a direct dopamine hit when we cross something off. Some of us will write a completed task down just for the satisfaction of seeing that something has been completed. Our workplaces and social circles laud us for the line items we accomplish. The more we do, the more impressive we appear.
As a mother to two young children, I constantly feel the push and pull of integrating family and career. There are days when I am firing on all cylinders at work. At the end of those days, I may feel tired but almost always feel great. When I have kids who are sick or life throws me a curve ball, I have to shift my expectations about what projects I can realistically complete. It's easy to let automatic anxious chatter creep in and think, "Ugh, I didn't get to do half of what I needed to today." But in my life, the most important things I do aren't written on a checklist anywhere. My greatest impact happens when I stop and slow down. In that space I play, I read, I rock, I walk. In that space lives possibility—for connection and creation. When I crowd that out with more projects to assuage insecurity or anxiety, no one wins.
To-do lists aren't just about tasks. They are about something fundamentally deeper—our enoughness. Our task lists beg the question, "Am I doing enough?" When someone can't internally trust that what they do and (more importantly) who they are is "enough" they might look at their punch list in Notion to provide reassurance they can't find inside themself. "Doing" doesn't make anyone of us more worthy. Our value is inherent simply by "being." When people haven't internalized this, they push themselves to the point of exhaustion trying to chase away the fear that they're falling short.
Being organized, getting squared away, and staying on top of our responsibilities is part of being a successful adult. But we seem to have taken our obsession with the output too far. We've confused what's urgent and forgotten what's important. It's time to rethink productivity. Instead of doing more, we're better served to bring more intention to what has maximum impact. To recalibrate, we need to appreciate that often the things that make the greatest difference don’t yield immediate positive feedback. The most important things we do in a day's time may be thankless and unseen. Yet, over time, they strengthen our bodies, minds, and relationships.
When you've spent years driving after accomplishment in the way the world has defined it for you, making different choices will be unsettling. Expect it. If you feel uncomfortable at first, you're probably doing something right.
You will always have more to do. Be careful about which business you leave unfinished.
Who is really important?
What will last?
There’s more to life than filling your days with tasks until you’re dead.
If you liked this post, spread the Joy and share it with someone else!
If you’re interested in more strategies for managing stress, raising your EQ, and strengthening self-awareness, don’t miss Finding Joy:
For more of my musings on love, life, and work, you can follow me on Twitter, Linked In, and IG.