We live in an age that seems consumed with productivity. I think what was once a healthy goal of self-improvement, for many, is turning into a source of sickness, unease and anxiety. And it doesn't seem like the world needs help in any of these departments, does it?
Still, we get wrapped up in our own stories. We convince ourselves we need to get everything down perfect and now. That means the perfect body, perfect sleep routine, perfect work-life balance, and so on. All overnight. Which has a lot of people trying ten different diets, haircare routines, meditation apps, and workouts all in the same week, just so they can nail down the perfect recipe sooner.
And then what?
Just to be clear, I'm not talking metaphorically here, I'm thinking about myself primarily with writing this, since like most of my generation, I share these obsessions. Increasingly, though, lately I've been pondering that question. What's next? After you nail down everything just right, presumably, you'll be allowed to rest. Things will get easier once you get the perfect routine. If only you could get down that one thing.
Except it's never one thing, and it's never completely down. There's always room for improvement.
Just when you're getting comfortable with your diet, you get to thinking what else you could remove/add to make it even better.
Just when you're reaching a satisfaction level of strength or running distance, you start thinking you could do more.
So then, if the goal is always shifting, why are we still postponing that let loose moment? If I won't be happy with 10, 20, 50 reps, why can't I be happy now, you know?
As I say, it's been an ongoing effort for me. I'm someone who always thinks she's being lazy when she takes things easy. When I'm home, I can't go a day without writing, because I feel very lazy and unproductive.
So how do I combat that?
Well, I ask myself what I want. As a writer, at least, I've gotten to a point where I can tell the difference between a strained burnout-y write-up and a real good one. It's unpleasant to admit, even to self, but it's useful. You could write every day of the week and get B category writing, or you could write 4-5 days a week and get top stuff. It's your choice. Always.
Another trick I've been employing to combat this impression of laziness is pointing out the value (to myself) of what I've just done. I'll sometimes look at the time and think oh crap, I've wasted all this time doing nothing. But then I slow down a notch and think well, how did said time pass exactly? Break it down by activities. And often, I'll find I've been folding laundry or cooking or maybe cleaning a bit. Often, doing these small things we tend to despise for taking up so much of our precious time. Then I remind myself, well someone had to do that as well. It wasn't gonna do itself. Now it's done, it's off the to-do list, ergo "all that time" was not wasted. It was productive, if not engaging in the most important activity in my life.
Because I find we tend to rank our tasks, obviously. Like work, family time, workouts, whatever. And the lower down the activity is on our ranking chart, the more likely we are to call it wasted time. Except. The definition of "unproductive is
of an activity or period) not achieving much; not very useful.
According to Google. Well, having folded laundry or a clean home or a cooked meal is undeniably useful. With a little effort, you achieve good results. I mean, it's not landing a man on the Moon, but that's not an option when you're doing the f-ing laundry, is it?
Finally, I find I'm able to bypass many of these guilt trips over lazy-ish activities by popping on something in the background, like an interesting podcast. Alternatively, I try to focus on being present while doing something. Like really in the moment. And since that's something that doesn't come naturally to me, managing to do that with any given activity makes me feel a sense of achievement, thereby also becoming productive.
When I saw this week's #KISS prompt from the MINIMALIST Community,
How does slow living save you from burning out, and what did it take for you to recognize that going at a slow pace and taking breaks was not being lazy?
I felt myself go a bit red, as it's something I'm still recognizing on a regular basis. I think it took pushing myself to the edge of my productivity and into burnout to start appreciating that sometimes the best thing you can do for your work is something else. For a while. :)
Thank you to 
A bonus way to remind myself to take things slow is travel. I'm thrilled to be heading to Germany next week to see family, as well as some of my favorite artists at the moment. I think I'll share a tune or two with you, as it is after all Tuesday, and thanks to the inventive 
As far as I'm concerned, there is no song more romantic and more heartfelt than the above. I think truly loving someone is wanting to see everything about them. And though it's old as hell, I'm hoping to hear it live.
And an artist I would like to see :) This has got to be one of the coolest collabs I've ever heard.
