Reducing Your Guilt About Not Being Productive
Productivity is certainly a topic I’m interested in and have explored many times on Psych Central. There are tons of articles about how to get things done, how to work smarter (not harder), how to cross every task off your list. But sometimes what ends up flourishing alongside our desire for productivity is guilt.
6 Tips to Stop Comparing and Competing
Move beyond comparing and competing: recognize that there’s another way for us to exist.
- Don’t operate out of fear of being “less than” or “not getting the promotion”
- Focus on the similarities among us
Challenge the idea that not being productive makes you worthless
Reevaluate your expectations
- Are your expectations attainable or more like unattainable ideals?
- Pay attention to your mind, body, and spirit
- You’ll feel a sense of peace, think more clearly, and recognize and label your emotions
Recognize process over endpoint
Reframe your life as a process of growth, not of being “done”
- Celebrate your growth instead of feeling guilty for things left undone or incomplete
- Remind yourself that “wasting time” is productive
- We are most productive when we feel it least
- “Wasted” moments are vital to organize our minds and make sense of our lives
Confront your guilt
Take it on directly: make a date with yourself to sit at a café, drink a cup of tea, and people-watch for 30 minutes.