Understanding Productivity and Social Media

Summary

The article emphasizes the importance of personalizing the concept of productivity rather than comparing oneself to others, especially on social media.

Abstract

The article "Understanding Productivity and Social Media" delves into the societal pressure to appear constantly productive, often influenced by the curated images of productivity on social media platforms. The author reflects on their own struggle to meet these standards during quarantine, realizing that true productivity is subjective and should be defined by personal fulfillment rather than external validation. By creating a personalized list of activities, the author found satisfaction in their own achievements without the need to share them online. The article suggests that understanding and embracing one's unique version of productivity can lead to a more meaningful and self-motivated life.

Opinions

The author feels guilty when comparing their routine to the idealized productivity shown in YouTube videos and social media posts.
The author believes that productivity is not a one-size-fits-all concept and that it's important to recognize individual preferences and circumstances.
Quarantine has amplified the pressure to be hyper-productive, but the author argues that this pressure is unrealistic and can be counterproductive.
The author cautions against using social media as the sole motivator for productivity, as it can lead to a focus on appearances rather than genuine achievement.
The article promotes the idea that personal growth and productivity should be pursued for intrinsic satisfaction, not for the approval or envy of others.
The author encourages readers to distance themselves from social media to find true motivation and to understand what they genuinely consider important and productive in their lives.

Being able to realize what you do for yourself versus what you do to impress others

Everyone knows those classic YouTube videos that explain how to have a productive day in your life. Often it makes me feel guilty for not starting my day by reading a book, meditating, and drinking lemon water.

It seems like everyone has crazy productive days all the time. You see it on Snapchat and Instagram stories as well. People love posting aesthetically pleasing photos of them studying at a coffee shops or painting in the sun while listening to music. It seems like everyone is living the dream life.

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about productivity because summer has been quite the drag so far. Most days I stay at home by myself wondering what are things that I can do with my day. I look at videos and read different articles about things that people have enjoyed doing but nothing really seems to click for me. I don’t have the time to make my whole day look good — I just want it to feel good.

In quarantine, with so much time in my hands, I can’t help but want to make every day perfect otherwise I feel like I’m not getting anything out of it. But, without school I don’t have any deadlines I need to do, my summer internship is cancelled, and I am essentially locked in at home. It feels like my limits to productivity are harsh.

Being at home all the time has helped me realize, however, that it’s really important to be able to understand what you consider to be a productive day. It can be different for everyone and it doesn’t necessarily mean that your version of being productive is worse than someone else’s. Just because I don’t start my day with yoga doesn’t mean I won’t have a productive day. Maybe, yoga just isn’t my thing.

I realized this importance a few days ago. I started to make a list of things that I want to do this summer. I included things I can do on my own, things I can do with my family, and things I can do distanced with my friends. I was really stoked about all of it. I started to get excited about the possibilities of things that I could do and was ready to make every day the best day ever. I signed up for a free online class, went on bike rides, hung out with my family, studied for standardized tests, and started some new books. These were all things that if I did in my day, I considered productive for me.

But the thing that stuck with my the most was that doing these things on my own felt productive to me. I didn’t have to make it look aesthetically pleasing and I didn’t feel the need to post about it. Instead I felt like achieved something for myself that was worth more than being able to share how productive I was being. This helped me realize that being productive to look professional is not always the best form of motivation.

In quarantine it’s easy to get distracted by what everyone else is doing. Now this may seem a little weird considering most of us aren’t seeing people. However, once everyone is at home a lot of the things you see people doing are through social media (and social media posts will always come through a closed-off lens). This may cause you to feel like you’re not being productive. I really caution you against comparing your own productivity to someone else’s based on what they post on social media. Just because someone posted an aesthetically pleasing photo of them painting in the sun doesn’t mean they weren’t inside on the phone for the rest of the day.

You never know the full story about anyone through social media, so it’s unfair to make assumptions that make you feel worse about yourself.

This brings me to my central piece of advice. If you want to have a productive day, don’t do it for other people.

A lot of the time, we use social media as motivation to do things. People do photo shoots with their friends to post about it, people will study in coffee shops to post about it, and people will tie dye, go on bike rides, cook, and go on walks to post about it. Obviously sharing your life on social media is not a bad thing — that’s what it’s for. But being sure to distance yourself from the social media motivation is what is important. Be productive for yourself, and then post about it. Don’t be productive to be able to post about it.

When you try to be productive to make a YouTube video about it or post it on Instagram, you often do that whole thing just to get a photo and then end up not doing anything for the rest of the day. So when I say don’t be productive for other people, I mean, don’t do things to make it look like you have the most amazing, perfect life. Be productive because it makes you feel excited about your day it makes you feel like you’re accomplishing great things while you’re in quarantine (or any day of the year).

Understanding your own form of productivity will be incredibly important to you. But remember that it’s your own form. Don’t compare it to anybody else. Once you start to realize what lets you feel like you’ve accomplished something, go with that and do it for yourself. With productivity, I find it most helpful to be able to distance yourself from social media. It helps you find your true motivations for doing things and allows you to learn more about yourself and what you consider to be important.

I have felt the pressures of social media when I feel like I’m not being productive enough, and this reflection helped me realize how I can push myself to be more productive on my own.

I hope this does the same for someone else.

Thanks for reading!

Rashmi