Toxic Productivity: How not to Fall into the “Trap”
What is “toxic productivity,” and how can productivity be toxic? Productivity, the secrets of achieving which are devoted to dozens of books and training, on which every self-respecting and truly goal-oriented person should work, and – toxic?! Yes, imagine that it happens that way!
And that’s what happens when a person starts thinking about work to the detriment of everything else: family, friends, sports, leisure time, hobbies, health. Agree. It’s silly to work hard to earn more money and spend it on doctors and medications. And that’s not the only danger and not the only harm of toxic productivity. An essay writer knows more about productivity than anyone else, so this article was written about that experience.
Toxic productivity – what is it?
Once upon a time, there was a funny expression on the billboards of a fitness club: “If work interferes with the sport – it’s the wrong job. You couldn’t have said it more accurately! If a job seriously interferes with sports and other areas of life, such work can reasonably be considered wrong.
In most cases, it is not the work itself that is wrong, but our attitude. It is equally harmful to “score” on your job duties to think about them fanatically and around the clock.
Yes, of course, to plan tomorrow night’s workday or allocate 15-20 minutes on Sunday to think about plans for the following work week is regular and entirely consistent with time management recommendations. However, no article on time management recommends thinking about work all the time.
Moreover, in the time-management literature, you can find the advice to first plan for rest time because only a rested person who has had a good night’s sleep can be productive. And here we come to the point of defining what toxic productivity is. Toxic productivity is work, including efficient work, to the detriment of one’s physical and psychological health and well-being, other aspects of life not related to work.
In principle, it is possible to use the term “toxic productivity” to refer to any activity that has consumed a person entirely to the detriment of everything else. For example, it happens to amateur athletes, more often than not to track and field athletes, who suddenly start chasing records and subordinate their lives to achieving athletic results.
It is the subject of a separate study, “Unhealthy Cravings for Exercise: How Dangerous is Excessive Exercise? In reality, however, it is more common to talk about toxic productivity to work, so we will focus on this aspect of the topic.
Signs of a toxic productivity
Toxic productivity manifests in constant overworking beyond the 8-hour workday, a long-term absence of days off and vacations, and endless and complicated plans that need to be implemented urgently, and “yesterday.
And the most severe sign of toxic productivity is constant self-injury for things not done, including items that are not of prime importance and something that can quickly be done without or are not part of your primary duties.
It is this self-injury that causes the primary damage to the psyche of such a “perverted workaholic,” who not only hardly ever rests, does not exercise, does not communicate appropriately with friends, and does not even plan to do so shortly.
We are all well aware that there are situations in which you have to give it your all, regardless of fatigue and the long-overdue end of the day. It’s not just extreme cases such as a forest fire approaching the city’s outskirts or an accident at a mine when rescue workers are working around the clock and may not always have time to change over every minute at the end of the shift.
It is the annual report preparation for accountants, the pre-holiday trade in gift and toy stores, and the exams for full-time students, whose main job is studying. It, however, refers to conscious situations that have clear time limits and criteria for the end of the problem:
- The fire is out.
- The debit and credit are balanced.
- The session is over.
- The holidays are over.
On the other hand, if a person works non-stop at a tireless pace simply because he “needs to work” and cannot clearly say when it will be over, this is a sign of toxic productivity. If, in his opinion, it will end “when he earns enough money,” “when the repairs are finished,” “when the children finish school,” this is also a warning sign.
And it’s not just that “enough money” should preferably be expressed in a specific amount. Otherwise, there is a risk of never earning the right amount. And that when the children finish school, you will need to help them pay for college, and when repairs are completed, you will need new furniture, appliances, a new car, something else.
The fact is that children, repairs, shopping – these are the components of our life, which should be lived to the fullest, and not filled with work from morning till night and poisoned “pursuit of the horizon. And quite a lot of people manage to combine work with raising children, doing housework, socializing with friends, and finding money for repairs and necessary purchases. And not all of these people are oligarchs.
So, let’s summarize the main signs of toxic productivity highlighted by psychologists and recruiting professionals.
Top 5 signs of toxic productivity:
- Constantly working after hours and on weekends has become the norm rather than some one-time activity (annual report, session, holiday eve).
- Constantly thinking about work: what else you need to do, have time for, turn in, fix, etc.
- Constantly feeling tired.
- Feel guilty if you think you could have done more but didn’t.
- Experience discomfort and guilt when you allow yourself to rest.
Some experts single out the desire to set themselves unrealistic goals as a separate item, regardless of the objective circumstances. It has become especially noticeable under conditions of pandemics and endless lockdowns. Of course, wholesale sales in these conditions have fallen because the sword of Damocles hangs over the retail sector for another indefinite closure. And sales managers should not blame themselves for ineffective sales because not everything depends on the skills of persuasion and the ability to work with objections. The economic situation also has some effect on people’s purchasing power.
So, let’s summarize the main signs of toxic productivity highlighted by psychologists and recruiting professionals.
Top 5 signs of toxic productivity:
- Constantly working after hours and on weekends has become the norm rather than some one-time activity (annual report, session, holiday eve).
- Constantly thinking about work: what else you need to do, have time for, turn in, fix, etc.
- Constantly feeling tired.
- Feel guilty if you think you could have done more but didn’t.
- Experience discomfort and guilt when you allow yourself to rest.
Some experts single out the desire to set themselves unrealistic goals as a separate item, regardless of the objective circumstances. It has become especially noticeable under conditions of pandemics and endless lockdowns. Of course, wholesale sales in these conditions have fallen because the sword of Damocles hangs over the retail sector for another indefinite closure. And sales managers should not blame themselves for ineffective sales because not everything depends on the skills of persuasion and the ability to work with objections. The economic situation also has some effect on people’s purchasing power.
This statement contradicts the advice of business coaches to move forward and resolutely overcome any difficulties. It is only a question of adequately assessing the situation and understanding what is within your competence and what is not. You cannot objectively influence retail sales of anything, but you can analyze purchasing trends and inform wholesale buyers about discounts on the items they would most like to buy. Perhaps they will find the money for something marketable, which is sure to “go away.”
5 psychological signs that you are a victim of toxic productivity:
- Getting frustrated if you don’t get all the work done at once.
- Getting angry if a co-worker works more slowly and not as enthusiastically as you do.
- Always giving up weekend plans in favor of work.
- Believe that self-sacrifice and perfectionism are necessary conditions for successful work.
- Consider passive relaxation a waste of time.
This “psychological” approach has every right to life because much in this life depends not so much on objective reality but our attitude. As long as you feel comfortable working a lot, immersing yourself in a new project, building a new business, forgetting about time and everything else, because work at the moment is more interesting than everything else, it is your own business.
But suppose you start seriously believing that everyone else should do precisely the same, forgetting about rest and communication with loved ones on the weekend, giving preference to another personal growth training instead of going to the theater. In that case, there is a problem with you. And you risk going from toxic productivity to toxic personality in short order.
Advice from coaches on limiting your interactions with toxic people isn’t much less today than advice on how to be productive. The famous joke about “don’t tell me what to do and I won’t tell you where to go” is taken by many not as a joke but as a guide to action.
How do you avoid becoming a victim of toxic productivity who, in addition to having problems with family, relationships, free time, and health, may have self-esteem problems because those around you do not share her bigoted views, and every time you try to share those views they explain to her where to go? And how do they become “toxic-productive”? Let’s take a look.
How do you avoid being toxically productive?
So, what do you do to avoid falling into the toxic-productivity trap? Let’s start with those who have to work hard to survive. The situation may well be discussed with the supervisor overseeing the work because most employers want results, not process, recycling, and a demonstration of diligence.
The work must be done qualitatively, and on time, so it would be more logical to clarify the nuances of the task from the beginning and stipulate the actual terms of its implementation. Bosses-paranoid, suffering from the fact that they do not have the opportunity to observe you “live” in your workplace, by the end of the second year of massive “distant work” became noticeably less. Someone who put up with it went bankrupt, and many gradually concluded that it is time to develop clear criteria for the company employees’ effectiveness, not only on the “remote.”
Six steps to get rid of toxic productivity:
- Stop unnecessarily sacrificing basic needs (sleeping, resting, eating) to work. Working late into the night or on your lunch break may be the exception, but it is not the rule.
- Take breaks from work. Alternatively, “budget” 10-15 minutes for rest in the total time you spend on each work task and think about how this will increase your productivity.
- Stop comparing your successes to others’ successes, real or imagined. First, people tend to lie and exaggerate their accomplishments. Second, even if someone has achieved more, you can be happy for them, not try to compete.
- Take up sports and remember that sports don’t take time away from work. Sport gives it because a physically healthy and sturdy person can do much more in a short time.
- Avoid excessive self-development. You shouldn’t go to fancy training just because “everybody goes there” or read something just because “everybody reads it.” Some books are not worth wasting your time on.
- Understand your value with all your knowledge, skills, experience, background.
Bio:
Jeanna Bray is an individual who come across the hold together brief conversation and configurations of demonstration to communicate the advantages undergraduates predispose when addressing PaperHelp professionals for evaluation and handwriting assistance. You buoy only just denomination a top-ranked copywriting progression – complimentary or paying – that she hasn’t accompanied patch pursuing a BA in Digital Communication.
