Is ‘Productivity Dysmorphia’ Stopping You From Enjoying Your Successes?
Body dysmorphia is a condition in which people don’t see their own bodies accurately. Small flaws appear gigantic or the person in the mirror looks far larger than the one standing there in real life. The issue puts people at risk of obsession, depression, and eating disorders.
Codrea-Rado’s post unleashed a flood of commentary online, and it grabbed my attention immediately
Without context, success is a meaningless word
- There’s no one who can tell you you’re successful but you
- That makes generic advice on “how to be successful” generally pretty useless
The power of the right diagnosis
Productivity dysmorphia is a gap that often opens up between people’s objective accomplishments and their sense of their own success
- We may be the final judges of our own success, but we’re often horrible at it
- The only thing more overwhelming is that you feel like you’ve done nothing at all
- It’s a feeling similar to burnout
There’s no simple solution for “productivity dysmorphia”
The phenomenon of being unable to see and celebrate your own productivity seems widespread, but it’s rarely discussed.
- Codrea-Rado gives a name to the problem, but naming an issue is only the first step in grappling with it. She spoke with a number of mental health professionals and workplace psychology experts to see if there was any way to fight back against her productivity dysmorphia.
- The best approach very much depends on the root cause.