The Trap of Toxic Productivity: How it Can Affect You and How to Break the Cycle
Being productive is important, but like everything, too much of a good thing isn’t all that good.
It’s great to get things done, but not at the expense of your mental health and well-being.
Toxic productivity, as defined by Psychology Today, is a need to always be productive, even if it hurts your health, relationships, and life.
Being productive is nice, but you need to have clear limits for yourself.
In this article, we’ll define toxic productivity, discuss what it looks like and how it affects you, and how you can ultimately break the cycle in order to find a balance between productivity and your health.
What is toxic productivity?
Toxic productivity is when a need to be productive negatively impacts your work, health, relationships, your life, and more.
If you are obsessed with getting things done and being productive, you will end up missing out on important things.
As the phrase goes, “jack of all trades, master of none.” You can’t expect to get every single task done without having another aspect of your life or work suffer as a result.
Ultimately, toxic productivity involves spreading yourself too thin, getting burnt out, and your health and wellness suffering because of it.
What does toxic productivity look like?
Toxic productivity can look different for each person.
For most people, it is characterized by feeling like “enough” is never enough, meaning that no matter how many tasks you check off of your to-do lists, there’s always more that you have to get done.
Here are a few examples of toxic productivity that you might find yourself doing:
Working outside your working hours to get things done.
Sacrificing your mental health just to get work done.
Worrying too much about how many tasks you’ve completed, emails you’ve sent, and projects you finished.
You take time away from personal and family time in order to do work-related activities.
You don’t take time for yourself to relax and do the things that you enjoy doing.
If you do any of these, you might be a victim of the trap of toxic productivity. Toxic productivity can negatively impact your work and your life in many ways.
How can toxic productivity affect you?
Toxic productivity can have many negative effects on you and your life.
Toxic productivity can:
Lead to burnout and make you hate working.
Significantly harm your health and mental well-being.
Push you away from those you are close to.
Lead to you eating worse, sleeping worse, and exercising less.
Make you lose your hobbies and not have time to relax or do the things you enjoy doing.
There are many negative effects of toxic productivity. Breaking the cycle isn’t easy, but there are lots of small things you can do to start.
How do you break the cycle of toxic productivity?
Unfortunately, there’s no one singular solution to breaking the cycle of toxic productivity.
However, there are a bunch of small things you can do to get started.
If you are trying to escape the trap of toxic productivity, make sure you are doing these 8 things:
Use the Pomodoro Technique to help you manage your work schedule.
Make sure you take breaks. Taking breaks throughout the day can have a huge impact on your productivity. Sometimes, not doing anything is just as important as doing something.
Be okay with not having empty to-do lists. It’s perfectly fine to not get everything done every day.
Create boundaries for yourself. Everyone has limits. Know yours. Try to get as much done as you can, but make sure not to overdo it.
Take a wellness day off of work. Wellness days are necessary sometimes. Taking a day or two just to refresh is a great way to keep a balance between work and your health. If you are able to enjoy your personal time and relax while you aren’t working, you’ll be better able to get things done while you are working.
Plan and actually use your time off. Taking time off can actually help you be more productive. According to Zippia research, 55% of Americans don’t use all of their paid time-off. Taking time away from work can help you avoid burnout and come back and be ready to get back to work.
Set dedicated times for work and stick to them. Work only during your designated work hours and leave your personal time for yourself, family, and friends.
Don’t be afraid to go screen-free. Put your phone on silent and turn your computer off while you’re eating, while you’re taking breaks, while you’re spending time with loved ones, and while you’re taking time for yourself.
Ultimately, breaking the cycle of toxic productivity can be hard, but you can slowly do it by following these strategies. It might be hard, but if you stick with it and keep trying, you will make great progress, enjoy work again, and get your life back.
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