Productivity Based Self-Worth

alignment boundaries changes clarity communication discovery forgiveness growth productivity purpose self-worth May 06, 2021

Productivity is the lie we've been told about how we're supposed to function. It's a performative based version of perfectionism. It's one of the legs of perfectionism that we have adopted into our lives that make us think that we're not actively doing something that qualifies as productive.

That we should feel guilty and shame

And that we should start doing more, doing more is the lie that we've been told. Doing more in terms of your relationships, doing more in terms of your health, doing more across the board is what we have been taught and then agreed to that we are here to do more. It doesn't matter what it is, just stay busy so that you're not being lazy. Procrastination is what we deem as laziness as well. But lazy is not a thing. Lazy has this negative connotation because it is the antithesis of productivity. Productivity is how perfectionists measure their day's success. A lot of us think at the end of the day, that if you weren’t productive that means I had a good day or if you weren’t not productive today that you need to do better tomorrow. If today was not checking off all the things on your list, then how do you know when your day has been good or when it's not productive in the act of producing something, the more productive, the more you have produced.

Reworking your relationship with productivity.

We need to look at reworking your relationship with productivity so that you can avoid burnout and recover from burnout. There's nothing wrong with the actual concept of productivity and being productive. But the way we have absorbed the patterns and the expectations of the world that we're living in currently is that productivity is the ultimate goal, to constantly be productive, to make sure you're not wasting time. What we want to do is shift from just staying busy and being productive into actually being in alignment, making sure that you're producing for the sake of fulfilling your purpose rather than producing for the sake of producing.

Through the decades of ensuring your productivity, you have avoided being still with your own feelings, with your reflections, and you’ve made it almost impossible to really get into your future vision. We were taught this by our parents, we were taught this by school, we were taught this by some of our first jobs, by our grandparents, and there are lots of different terminology and phrases that we heard in our childhood that leaned into building this belief about ourselves.

I'm going to give you eight signs that you're operating from productivity based self worth.

Signs you are operating from productivity-based self worth:

1. When someone (including self) is resting/relaxing, you see it at lazy.
2. Having a hobby is a luxury only for those who have no goals to achieve.
3. Your day was good or bad based on how much of your to-do list got done.
4. When you have unexpected down time, you look for tasks to complete instead of resting or playing.
5. You have read/watched/subscribed to productivity experts, teachers, authors.
6. You are regularly frustrated with what you weren’t able to accomplish during a day/week.
7. You buy planners and organizing bins regularly to create order in the chaos but still don’t feel like any of it is working.
8. Competing in who is more tired, who has the longer list to do, who has it harder than anyone else.

If you don’t change your relationship with productivity you will have gone your whole life being busy but have had little to no fulfillment. You’ll regret years of doing and missing the micro-moments of being connected to the here and now, with the people you love in each stage and season of their lives.

How do you successfully shift from productivity to alignment and fulfillment?

1. Redefine productivity for yourself to include rest, play and recharge plans
2. Redirect your measure of success from productivity to presence and alignment
3. Immerse yourself in a community of people, create your village, of those who want more than to have done the most at the end of the day, week, year. Instead core values, passion, purpose, connection.
4. Accept that this transition is going to take practice as your nervous system believes being still is unsafe. This is not an overnight shift - this is decades of unlearning and opting out of what used to be in all areas of your life.
5. Accept that some people are going to push back, be confused and feel judged by your choosing to do less
6. Shifting out of this also requires you redefine your own self worth - the parts of you that are simply existing without you having to produce something. Getting clear on who you are underneath all the doing and going and busy-ness is where you’ll find the freedom, peace and ease - guilt free rest and so much joy. That is a lifelong practice as you evolve and rediscover parts of yourself that have been buried underneath the rules, obligations and expectations of your life.

Productivity mode is a habit.