Let’s Talk About: Productivity Porn

More, bigger, better: The creator and founder world is obsessed with productivity and growth.

How can I get more done? How can I create more content? Grow my social media following? Make more money?

We rationalize our behavior but what we are really chasing are certain emotions:

We want to feel good enough, validated, accepted, loved, seen and heard.

So we get addicted to ways we can improve output and get hooked on content that tells us how and apps that promise us more productivity + organization.

As we focus on the HOW, we tend to forget the WHY.

Why do I really want to be more productive? What is beneath it all? What do I really want?

I like to remind myself of this Stoic idea:

Memento Mori - remember, you must die.

Which ultimately then leads me to remind myself of how I want to make my life worth living.

How do I want to feel on my deathbed?

Is it by sitting in front of my laptop all day and get more done?

I’m pretty sure I won’t say that I wish I had spent more time staring at screens.

I’m pretty sure I will feel happiest about and most grateful for the times I spent with my loved ones, my partner, my friends and family.

I'm pretty sure I won't remember the days I produced more, but the times I had real experiences in real life, when I helped people, the days I surfed my heart out, and laughed really hard and had all my senses involved in living life.

Instead of asking yourself how to be more productive, maybe ask yourself:

How can I live more?

The answer of Type A creator personalities might be:

Work harder, but less.

Or: I love doing what I do!

Or: I work hard now to reap the benefits and sit back later.

But there is a middle path, a way we can create balance:

Mindful productivity.

Mindful creativity.

Mindful living.

More on this in tomorrow’s essay.

(This is atomic essay #2, which is part of 30 Days of Writing #Ship30for30)