There’s No Point In Trying to Be Productive if You’re Working for the Wrong Reasons

Are you living to work or working to live?

It doesn’t exactly take a Sherlock Holmes to look at my articles and see that I am a sucker for productivity and efficiency. (Doubling my productivity, tripling my reading, a quick destress exercise in between and always trying to achieve more by doing less.)

I eat the same breakfast and dinner four to five days a week because meal-prepping and reheating save me a bunch of time. Oh, and these meals have been the same for the last two years. Oatmeal with mix-ins and eggs for brekkie, beef and Mediterranean style veggies with rice for dinner. For two years. That’s how much I am into efficiency and streamlined processes.

For me, being more productive and efficient rocks because you get the same work done in less time. The myriad of books, articles, videos, and workshops on the topic suggest that I am not completely alone with my approach.

Unfortunately, efficiency and free time are worth jack shit if you’re working for the wrong reasons.

Stop and Ask Yourself “Why?”

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why? As in, why exactly should I work faster, achieve more and be more productive? Why always strive for more? Why read books and articles on time management, why squeeze out every last bit of potential?

I will tell you why. It is not about always achieving more. It is not about getting done your work faster so you can take on more work.

It is about getting done what you have to do as quickly and efficiently as you can, so you can spend more time on what makes you happy and brings you joy and fulfilment.

To quote Brian Tracy, author of Eat That Frog, an international bestseller book on productivity:

‘The main reason to develop time management skills is so that you can complete everything that is really important in your work and free up more and more time to do the things in your personal life that give you the greatest happiness and satisfaction.’

In today’s hustle culture, it is easy to get sucked into the always-busy spiral. Make a call here, check a report there. Damn, I’ve got another meeting in five minutes, uhhh if I can finish this real quick I can have a look at the new presentation before lunch.

Sounds familiar? It shouldn’t.

There is nothing wrong with striving for great time management skills so you can get a little extra work done. If you found a job you love and the work is fun and fulfils you, go for it. Or maybe your office is super busy right now so the free time comes in handy to lower the mountain of to-dos that have been piling up.

But if this becomes something regular and is your sole reason to be more productive, then you might have to do some serious evaluation. I mean, what’s the point of getting your tasks done quicker if all that it brings is another bunch of work?

See, this is why it is important to sometimes stop and ask yourself why you want to save time. And if the answer always is so I can do more work, then you might want to sit down and think hard about your life. You should be able to free up some time to do so.

Because ultimately, we shouldn’t live to work. If anything, it should be the other way round. Happiness and a fulfilled life don’t come from always doing more and more and more. They come from stopping, appreciating and taking in all the beauty and joy life has to offer.

Like hanging out with people you love, spending a day in nature or reading a good book. Ask yourself why you are doing this. Then act accordingly.

Take Time Off For What Matters

My last two weeks have been going pretty well, work-wise. I got done more than I expected, and after taking a break from Medium for a while, I am back at it, full steam ahead. Once I got back into my habits, my productivity skyrocketed.

So this week, I am finally able to take a day or two off without feeling bad. I called my mum and told her I’d be visiting the family over the weekend. And I kid you not, I could feel her joy through the phone. These times, when we hang out with people we are close to, are what make up a bunch of our happiness.

‘Fully 85 percent of your happiness in life will come from happy relationships with other people, especially those closest to you, as well as the members of your family. The critical determinant of the quality of your relationships is the amount of time that you spend face-to-face with the people you love, and who love you in return.’— Brian Tracy

I love writing, with all the ups and downs. I love creating something that I can call my own. I love spending my time on it. But I also know that there is much more to life than work. And for this reason, I ask myself “Why?”

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