American work culture champions productivity. We’re all about getting more done, making more progress, and embracing the daily grind. And while all these things can be good, going about them the wrong way can be detrimental physically, mentally, and relationally.
It’s one thing to be productive. It’s another entirely to fall prey to toxic productivity.
What is Toxic Productivity?
Toxic productivity is productivity that compromises your work-life balance. It means that you prioritize progress at all costs regardless of the sacrifices or consequences. This leads to the neglect of your family life, hobbies, self-care, and other non-work priorities. In the end, this often results in burnout and strained relationships.
When you’re in the thick of it, it might be difficult to recognize your toxic productivity behaviors, like:
· Being always available.
· Feelings of guilt despite best efforts.
· Irritability and lack of focus.
· Inability to “turn off,” even after hours, on weekends and vacation.
While you may still be productive in the sense of getting tasks done, you’re ultimately sabotaging your career. Here’s how you break the cycle:
5 Ways to Beat Toxic Work Habits
#1) Use your vacation days.
Did you know that America has one of the worst standards for paid vacation time? Most European countries, without fail, offer an average of 6 weeks of paid vacation per year. Most of us are lucky to get two weeks! But here’s the thing: you must take vacations to benefit from them. Vacation offers valuable time to relax, recharge, and stave off burnout.
Burnout makes all your productivity pointless – it can take years to truly recover from and several weeks at minimum. Avoid that scenario at all costs by using your vacation time and sick days as needed. And (this is important) don’t work on your days off! You don’t need to feel guilty for not doing unpaid overtime.
#2) Set time aside for a digital detox.
A digital detox doesn’t have to mean abstaining from your devices for days at a time. It can be as simple as setting daily boundaries for device use, which helps you separate from that “always connected” work mindset. You can start small – no phones at the dinner table, no answering work emails outside of the office, and no browsing before bed. Instead of reaching for more work or digital distractions, focus on hobbies and relationships. This serves multiple purposes: it forces you to separate work from life and it can improve your mood, increase focus, decrease distractibility, and improve the quality of rest and sleep.
#3) Make family time essential.
An obsession with productivity, particularly among entrepreneurs, can result in damaged relationships with our families. You prevent this – and undue stress – by making family time a non-negotiable priority. If it seems like there’s no room in your schedule, start small. Eat dinner as a family. Have a “family night” where you play a game, do an activity, or go somewhere together.
#4) Build in mandatory breaks.
Our brains only stay engaged, focused, and productive for about 90 minutes at a time. While it might feel “better” to power through work for hours, breaks are necessary for maintaining real, lasting productivity and quality work. Stop scheduling back-to-back meetings and overpacking your schedule. Be realistic about what you can accomplish in a day with an appropriate number of ten-to-fifteen-minute breaks.
#5) Stop trying to multitask.
Lastly, stop trying to do it all. When you have the full weight of everyone’s work on your shoulders, you’re not only going to skip out on necessary breaks, but you’re going to try to multitask. And multitasking doesn’t work. You might feel like you’re getting a lot of things done at once, but all you’re doing is stopping yourself from getting in a deep focus mode. Multitasking isn’t doing more than one thing at a time – it’s very quickly shifting gears between tasks. This makes it more difficult to truly concentrate and get real, deep work done.
Part of this means, again, being realistic about your capacity on any given day. Don’t give yourself more than you can do if it demands doing more than one thing at a time!