When I was still in school, I remember learning greek philosophers defined and discussed happiness, fulfillment, and how people attain joy and pleasure.
Their discussions were pretty thorough, and they used two terms to discuss how people become fulfilled in their lives. Hedonic and eudaimonic happiness. While someone can be happy whether they achieve it hedonically or eudaimonically, the way its achieved differs between the two terms.
I used to be a hedonically inclined person - I've really enjoyed my life, and being very indulgent, but a transition occurred through the last 2 years for me which really shifted my perspective to a more productive and eudaimonic kind of happiness - and it's a lot harder for me to be fulfilled hedonically anymore. I am a little bitter that simple indulgences make me feel guilty now over productive ones, but my life is at least better for it, and I think many people feel guilty if they indulge themselves when there's work to be done.
I felt compelled to talk about this transition in my life - maybe to provide perspective for others who want to be more productive. I want to pre-face as well that I don't think there's anything wrong with being primarily happy one way or the other - happiness is key. You are healthiest when you are happy.
Eudaimonism versus Hedonism
Eudamonic happiness was heavily debated. It was discussed with or without certain definitions, but I think the easiest way to describe it is as a productive kind of happiness. Greek philosophers defined it as "A fulfillment of virtues", by being a morally strong, independent, capable person. Fulfillment through your work both mentally and physically.
Hedonism is pursuing pleasure seeking behavior to become happy. There are many indulgences to describe how people are happy this way even now - binge watching a show, or playing a video game. There's nothing wrong with enjoying yourself - though the greek philosophers were obsessed with virtue, and showed disdain for people who indulged in their lives.
My Shift from Pleasure Seeking to Productive Happiness
I am not ashamed to admit that even just 2 years ago, I heavily indulged myself in many different video games, television shows, animations, different arts and heavy consumption. I've been pretty lucky in my life - I've had a lot of people that care for my well being and ready to support me if I were in a bad position. I've been able to grow to a point where I've paid back their kindness. I didn't feel like my time was worth much - since I was not in a position where I was earning a lot. I kind of lived paycheck to paycheck, trying to save what I could, but usually having to spend it on repairs for my car or dates for my girlfriend.
My life changed a lot when I was able to get my dream job - suddenly I made almost quadruple what I earned then, had way more spare time, and a career that has made the last 2 years feel like only one. When my time began to have value - I began to see the opportunity in everything. When I started to play games, I would think to myself - "It's very expensive for me to play these games, when my time makes me a lot of money at other times in the day." I started to look at ways to use my capital for me, and it eventually became an obsession. I think a lot about business now, how to build my wealth, how to create a foundation, and my motivation is to use the advantages given to me to provide for the important people in my life.
Now, when even 2 years ago I couldn't wait to get home and seek hedonic kinds of happiness, I now go between 3-4 side jobs (whichever fits my schedule best) to help build my capital, and try to squeeze more value out of every minute of my life. I didn't imagine this kind of life would be fulfilling for me, especially since this can be stressful for people, but I think I am lucky as well that I was able to acclimate to it when I was ready.
How Productive Happiness can be Obtained from My Personal Experience
I can only speak for myself - many people have such different circumstances and usually little choice in how they develop, or they may have their mental faculties robbed from different kinds of illness. Perhaps even then, I can offer how my shift in focus made me become a more productive person. I think there were 3 key elements.
Motivation: I've always been motivated to become a person that has the power to help my family or friends if they need something. Many people in my life struggle through different things (illness, debts, etc.), and using my earnings to give them guidance and assistance has been very fulfilling. This kind of leads into the second thing which may be the primary reason my productive happiness has been achieved.
Perhaps if you are not motivated to be productive, you haven't found someone or something that has made it worth it to you.
Value: Once I got my career, over the course of two years my priorities all began to change. I became really engaged with the ways I could increase my physical value to myself and other people around me. This may be a somewhat egotistical thing - but the people in my life who suffer depression have a severe lack of personal value. Having no egotistical satisfaction from self-worth really pushed them into a mental corner. This did not concern me before - I had to be given value from another institution for me to realize my own potential in value.
For someone who seeks to be more productive - think about the ways you can add value and self-worth to your life. Usually the productive things you can do to pursue this may even be the things you enjoy most.
Passion through Work: My work is both something I am interested in, and it simultaneously allows me to have the time I need to pursue other things (ironically, those things are usually more work). I did not think one could be happy at a job, until my job gave me value that I felt was even more than I was worth, and allowed me to utilize my strongest and most comfortable skills.
Thank you for taking the time to read about my insights - I feel like I came off perhaps as egotistical, but I am just trying to be candid about the way value and self-worth shifted my perspectives.