How not to blame yourself if you’re unproductive. Expert advice

Nowadays, productivity and so-called “achievement” have entered our lives especially tightly. And social networks play a big role here: the morning is just beginning, and the girls in social networks have already had breakfast, gone for a run, sold their new online course and started a couple of new businesses. It’s all a sense of anxiety and a feeling of “here they are productive, and I’m not!”

Maria Argunova

expert in the field of work with thinking

Tells how to get rid of destructive feelings of guilt.

We start comparing ourselves with others, thinking that we are not good enough and we need to put in more work: he’s already buying his second car, while I’m only saving up for the first one. We start to be in a state of restless brain, and in such a state it is very difficult to be productive. What to do?

How to fight the obsession with things

First, the golden rule is to not compare your start to someone else’s middle. We never know how long it took a person to achieve a goal and by what way he realized it. You should not immediately start accusing yourself of worthlessness.

Second, it’s important to realize that this is the case with you. If your colleague filled out the documentation, had time to have lunch and write a report, and you have time to do only one thing, it does not mean that he is better and more productive than you. He may well have to redo his work, while you move at your own comfortable speed, which is exactly how you can be most productive.

Productivity can be hindered by thinking traps. Read more about them here.

Third, it’s important to learn how to calm yourself down. In today’s world, our heads are overloaded with numerous (and not always necessary) information. This prevents us from prioritizing tasks and being productive. Calming your brain is easy – you need to find something to do that temporarily turns your head off and relaxes you. It can be anything: working out at the gym, meditation, going for a walk, or even the banal “sit in silence and think about nothing”.

Why rest is also important

Elizabeth Filonenko

psychologist, 16 years of practice, author of books on the psychology of relationships and child rearing.

How not to burn out in the pursuit of success and enjoy what you have?

It is now commonly believed that the idea of productivity was instilled in us by motivational coaches. They drive us into a vicious circle of achievement and force us to strive for success all the time, to be guided by more successful people. It has even become customary to resist this pressure, to give ourselves a rest, to allow pleasure and relaxation.

Completed cases, successes have always been associated with improving the quality of life and self-esteem of a person. But laziness, inertness, on the contrary, led to degradation and loss of respect in society. Pleasure from successfully completed cases is part of our human nature. Striving for success, competition are the driving forces that led to the development of civilization. And every human being has these aspirations.

But there are situations when doing nothing is even beneficial. We talked about it here.

But how not to burn out in the pursuit of success, give yourself a rest and let yourself enjoy what you have? There is one simple secret: you need to realize that rest is an integral part of your success, you can say, its basis. Rebooting, relaxing, having fun – recharges your batteries. By resting, you prepare your body to work hard. Conversely, by depriving yourself of rest and pleasure, you deplete your resource and make yourself unproductive in the short term.

The second important lifehack for feeling good about your achievements is to break down big goals into achievable steps. If each next step is easy to achieve, you’ll have more fun along the way. And you’ll be able to celebrate small victories instead of endlessly chasing a big unattainable goal.