“If you don’t take time to rest, your body’s going to pick a time for you that you won’t be able to work.” – Dr. Will Cole
Toxic productivity is the urge that does not let you settle. It tells you to be productive all the time. If you spend time on the things that you enjoy but do not contribute to your success in the world, it makes you feel guilty.
Even simple things like spending time with friends or lingering in the market every evening make you feel guilty.
It may be good for you, for your emotional and physical health. But as per the toxic productivity, you are wasting time because it does not add any value to your goals.
Thus, you want to be productive all the time and you cannot simply relax.
This eventually leads to feeling stress at work, burnout, poor relationships, and poor mental and physical health.
In this post, we will talk about in detail what toxic productivity is, what its causes are, the signs that tell you are struggling with it, and what you can do to break the cycle of it.
What is toxic productivity?
Toxic productivity is the urge to be productive all the time. It compels you to generate something productive from every activity you perform in a day. It just does not let you do something unproductive or for the sake of doing it for enjoyment.
If you do, it makes you feel guilty.
It compels you to think that every activity you do should add value to your success in life.
Read more: Best productivity tools that will make your life much easier
Causes of toxic productivity
Psychologist Kathryn Esquer, founder of the Teletherapist Network, says, “We could have used our free time to rest, recharge, and restore ourselves, but many of us filled those hours with more work as a way to feel worthy, fulfilled, and in control.”
Toxic productivity on the surface may seem like the simple greed to achieve more, but in the deep, it is the result of the amalgamation of various things.
Have a look at the three primary causes of it.
1. Culture and parenting
The root cause of toxic productivity lies in culture and parenting.
In a discussion with Greyjournal, Dr. Barren said, “In American culture, we do not value the person. We value productivity, wealth, achievement, doing and being more.”
Knowingly or unknowingly, parents pressure their kids to perform highly right from childhood. Thus, it is common for young adults to attach their self-worth to outside outcomes. This leads to toxic productivity.
2. Societal pressure and competition
In this hustle culture, where everyone is talking about working hard, one feels the pressure to work for long hours to become successful. If you do not, it makes you feel guilty for not giving your best. It is because this type of pressure is backed by some successful people.
The world’s richest person Elon Musk says, “Nobody ever changed the world in 40 hours a week.”
N.R. Narayana Murthy, an Indian billionaire businessman and co-founder of Infosys, recently said, “Young Indians should work 70 hours a week.”
When you hear all this, this leads to the firm belief that if you want to be successful, you need to maximize productivity. Otherwise, you will be left far behind.
3. Company culture
Sometimes, it is not the parenting, it is not the societal pressure, it is just your company work culture that rewards toxic productivity. In such places, the management glorifies working for long hours. Thus, you are compelled to work long hours to prove your worth or for promotion. This becomes toxic.
Apart from that, the pursuit of perfectionism, living in a competitive society, and escape from unaddressed emotional trauma can also contribute to it.
Read more: How to create a happy work culture
5 Signs of toxic productivity
The irony of toxic productivity is most people who are suffering from it do not even know that they are. So, it is important to know the signs of it.
1. Feeling guilty for relaxing in free time
If you are not able to relax in your free time or you feel guilty for doing nothing in your free time, it is a sign that you are suffering from toxic productivity. Instead of enjoying your free time, you would rather think that I should do something important in my free time.
2. Working extra hours every day
If logging extra hours and working on the weekends has become a norm for you, it is a sign of toxic productivity. You are not doing it because it is needed once in a while. You are doing it every day by choice. And you have made a habit of using your downtime for work.
Need help with setting boundaries?Learn here how to set boundaries at the workplace tactfully.
3. Seeing leisure time as a waste
If you see spending time with family and friends, things you enjoy doing, and self-care as a waste of time, it is a sign you are suffering from toxic productivity. It is because you want to spend time only on the things that contribute to your achievements.
4. Taking more work than you can do
If you are someone who takes up more projects than you can handle regularly, you are likely suffering from toxic productivity. It is because you do not want to be free as it is not worthy. So, you want to keep yourself busy with more work.
5. Feeling burn out
If you are feeling frequent burnout, it is a sign of toxic productivity. This happens because you are pushing yourself too hard without taking a rest and are not able to detach yourself from work.
And the worst thing about toxic productivity is it seeps into other areas of life. You try to be productive in your personal life too.
If continued for the long run, at one point, your mind and body will not be able to bear it. This can lead to dire mental and physical health problems.
But the good thing is you are now aware of it and you can work to fix it.
Do you know that you can achieve more at the workplace with effective time management? Check out the top 10 tips to plan your day for maximum productivity!
7 tips to break the cycle of toxic productivity
Dr. Cole says, “Toxic productivity is seen as a badge of honor and is glamorized in many ways. There’s nothing wrong with being successful, productive, and proficient, but when it comes at the expense of your health, it becomes a problem.”
Here are the seven tips that help you break the cycle of toxic productivity:
1. Give yourself permission to relax
The first thing first— to permit yourself to relax. You have to make conscious statements to yourself like these from time to time:
“I am allowed to rest and take care of myself.”
“My work is only a little aspect of my life.”
“I am worth more than my work.”
Reminding yourself of these helps you relax and lays the foundation to break the cycle of toxic productivity.
2. Establish boundaries between work life and personal life
The most noticeable symptom of toxic productivity is overworking.
Set concrete boundaries between your work life and personal life. Especially, if you are working from home, the boundaries between your personal and professional life would be blurred.
Set strict working hours and try to complete all of your tasks in these. Make sure your office email ID is not logged into your phone. This is to ensure that you are not checking the notifications related to work while you are having dinner with your family or playing with friends.
Do you feel that you do not have enough time to complete tasks during working hours?
Digital tools can help you achieve more in less time. It helps you effectively set boundaries.
Check out thebest work management software for a more productive workplacein 2024!
3. Do nothing
Once you have convinced your mind to relax and establish strict boundaries, start doing activities without the lust of extracting something out of it.
This is the biggest problem with people with a toxic productivity mindset. Instead of going for a walk for the sake of relaxing, they want to go for a walk with the purpose of self-improvement. When they read a book or watch a movie, they do it with the motive to learn something; not to enjoy it.
Avoid this. Just simply be. Relax in this free time. Do any activity you want to do without attaching a purpose to it.
4. Practice self-care
The most harmful impact of toxic productivity is on your mental and physical health. It is because it makes us not value taking care of ourselves.
It is time to set the basics right again. Decide the amount of time you want to invest in practicing self-care. There is no one magical number for everyone, but you can start small by giving one hour daily to self-care.
The activities for self-care can be exercise, meditation, cycling, going to a gym, a bike ride, or a hike. It will help you improve your mental and physical health.
5. Address concerns at the workplace
If you become toxically productive due to the work environment, it is time to politely confront it with empathy.
For example, if you have not been taking your paid leaves or you are taking client calls on weekends, tell your manager that you cannot work like this anymore.
You need work-life balance in your life. Tell your manager how it is affecting your personal life and work quality. You can also suggest ways that can help promote work-life balance.
If your organization does not value it, it would be sensible to look for a workplace where people come first over money.
6. Address your feelings
If you always feel the need to be doing something and being busy, it is a sign of unresolved trauma, lack of love, or self-worth issues. It is very important to introspect, accept, and address your feelings because escaping from them has not reaped fruitful results.
Be kind to yourself. Know you are worthy. Socialize with the people who make you feel that you belong in this world. Make friends that accept you for the being you are.
7. Seek professional help if needed
Sometimes, it is hard to break the cycle of toxic productivity on your own. And unfortunately, people close to you have contributed to that.
In that scenario, it is okay to seek the help of a professional therapist. It is because a professional knows the why of it and how to solve it. They can provide you with personalized guidance to help you with it.
I hope these tips help you in the journey of healing from toxic productivity.
Final words: working to live, not living to work
Toxic productivity is harmful to health. Initially, it may feel like it is giving you a return. But in the long run, it is detrimental to mental health, emotional stability, physical health, relationships, and your ability to deliver quality work.
It is because your body needs rest, your mind needs to relax, and your soul needs time for rejuvenation. Depriving yourself of these things means going against nature and the result will be you are not happy.
And if you see why you initially accept toxic productivity, it is because you want to be happy. So, it is very important you gradually work on it, find the right balance, and live a happy life.
FAQs
What is the toxic productivity trend?
Toxic productivity is the compulsive need to be productive all the time. This has become a trend because it receives support from society. It helps you grow but the growth comes at the expense of health, relationship, and well-being.
Why is hustle culture toxic?
Hustle culture is toxic because it values productivity, wealth, achievement, and going hard more than human internal well-being. It does not value self-care. Above all, it makes you feel guilty for that, which eventually leads to burnout.
Would you need professional help to break the cycle of toxic productivity?
If toxic productivity has led to long-term unhappiness, depression, and frequent burnout, you may need the help of a professional to break the cycle of it. Sometimes the cause of it lies in the deeper issues. It is hard to get out of it on your own.
