Do you feel the racing urge to be productive even when you have not been able to? Perhaps this is the Toxic Productivity

It is a pandemic, and it is very natural that it is affecting people, in ways that are unexpected. While many have been facing physical issues, the sorrow of losing loved ones is mentally attacking. And at such a point in time, it is very natural not to be able to work to the best of one’s capacity. And even keeping the pandemic aside, it is very natural to not be so productive some days. And if you feel guilty of not being productive, then that’s perhaps your toxic productivity speaking.

What is Toxic Productivity?

Toxic productivity is described as an addictive drive to be efficient throughout all times and under all circumstances. It’s the desire to go the “additional mile” at work, at school, or at home, even though it’s not needed. If we’re not actively ‘doing,’ toxic efficiency will make us feel like a failure. It can basically be defined as the drive, that generally is born out of unkind attitudes towards oneself and generally seen in workaholics. It is a result of the hustle culture, which is potentially dangerous rather than ensuring productivity for the employees.

Here are the signs of a toxic productivity

– You don’t have space for your personal life. You don’t have time to rest, drink water, or simply use the loo. You are having your meals with your laptop and normalizing all of it just to be productive.

– If you are keeping extremely high expectations from yourself and burning yourself to be the kind of person you want to be. You are not able to meet the high expectations you have from yourself and hence being hard on yourself.

– You are forcing yourself for being creative even when you are not being able to.

– You find it difficult to rest calm on days when you have certainly worked less than usual.

– You only possess a sense for hunger to shell out the best of you

– People around you often tell you that you are always busy, working, or thinking about work.

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How can you deal with it?

1. Acknowledge – The first step, if you are in a mood to get out of this toxic behaviour is to acknowledge it. You can’t deal with it if you are in denial. You can’t deal with it if you will normalize it.

2. Staying aware – Being aware of what you are doing is toxic is the early step to deal with it. Understand what all behaviours are toxic. And then, with all your awareness, observe all toxic productivity traits do you have. Reflect upon self, identify the weak spots and make a note of them.

3. Adjust your goals – Adjusting and specifying your goals is now the next step. Plan your goals, for the day, for the week, for the month. And, ensure that these goals are not set very high. They should be achievable goals, not drawn out of your unrealistic expectations from yourself.

4.Prioritize self-care – Making self-care your priority is one of the most important things. Ensure that you are giving enough time to yourself. Starting from eating food in a sound environment to exercising, to good sleep to spending time with friends and family. All come in self-care and you can’t afford to not be self-caring. Especially at a time of a pandemic.

So, these are a few things that you can do to get out of your toxic productivity behaviour. Remember, just that you are existing is more than enough at present. Nothing more than that is required.

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