The Secret to Killer Productivity

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about Kate Middleton’s abdominals, as one does, and wondering if I have a sort of princess-to-non-princess kinship going on. Although nobody is obsessing about my abdominals (nor would I want them to), and I haven’t got a doctored photo to release to the public. I do have this snapshot of me and my boys over the weekend at Birch Aquarium, me smiling through the discomfort of my own abdominals. Alas, no need to worry. Me and my 3 a.m. Internet searches have got this well in hand.

I’ve also been thinking a lot about productivity. I’m a checklist person. Busy-ness is my business. My planner is not only my personal assistant, but my ego booster. At the end of the day, those checkmarks are visual indicators of what I’ve accomplished. Those tasks don’t stand a chance--biting the dust one by one. Even better if I have something to show for it, like a shiny new blog post or, say, a trip to the aquarium.

Killer productivity takes discipline, you see, and I’m the most disciplined sucker there is.*

I exercise every day. Some days that means just 10 minutes on the exercise bike, but something is better than nothing. And checking it off is always better than nothing. When I was writing my novel, I would write or edit every day. I take my dog for a walk (or someone in our household does) every day. Done!

Weekly meal plans? Let’s go!

Flossing nightly? On it!

Drinking 8 glasses of water? Make it 10!

The reason I’m so disciplined is because I don’t want bad things to happen. In fact, I want all the good things to happen—all the wonders of a perfectly disciplined life. And if all of this goes according to plan, that’s sure to be the result, right?

Cue the evil villain laugh of irony.

The problem with this way of living is it’s not…fully living. It’s the pursuit without the happiness. Accomplishing things is of course nice and essential at times. But it’s easy to take it too far. Bad things happen anyway, and they certainly happen if you’re too focused on productivity.

Sorry to those who clicked on that title, hoping I had a neat productivity hack. The only secret to killer productivity is knowing that it’s a killer. At least it can do real damage if you’re not paying attention. And who or what is the bearer of this message? Often, the body. It’s been evident in my life that illnesses and body discomforts are invitations to slow down. I find that if I fail to take time for rest and relaxation, my body will find the time for me. It’s trying to tell me something. Mainly, abandon the checklist. At least temporarily. And this might be the problem with my abdominals. But really, no cause for alarm. I’ve been dealing with this for a while. I’ve got a doctor appointment set up, and I’m certainly due for my first (dreaded) colonoscopy.

This productivity assertion may sound dramatic, but let me tell you what happened to Carl. At a past workplace, Carl was the IT guy. One might even call him the IT guy extraordinaire. He was always the first one there in the morning and the last one to leave at night. Curiously, his workplace outfits seemed to rotate by week, not by day. He was friendly and would sometimes stop and chat, but conversations were short-lived, as he’d be thrown into a disaster that only he could solve. If anything was more important to Carl than his work, it was a mystery to me. He told me once I had a “very calming presence.” Me! That should have been a red flag for sure.

One red-letter day at work, Carl was absent. He was being hospitalized, having worked himself into exhaustion. We all felt horrible. We’d all joked—himself included—that it would happen one day, but nobody took it seriously. We weren’t given details of his diagnosis, but the stress of his productivity had forced him to not just slow down, but slam to a screeching halt. This man had “killer productivity.” And you’re far enough into this essay to know I’m trying to tell you this is not a good thing.

Sometimes I think about Carl and wonder what happened to him. He never returned to the company, at least not while I was there. I hope he’s doing well.

There’s a whole school of thought based around the idea that stress and trauma on the mind can become illness in the body. One such example is in the book, The Body Keeps the Score, by Bessel van der Kolk. He claims that trauma on the nervous system can result in “a whole range of physical symptoms, including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and other autoimmune diseases.”

The good news is that all this research shows that these stress-causing ailments can be reversed with various therapies. And in most cases, they can be improved with intentional rest and relaxation.

So I’ve given myself permission to slow down a bit. And while I won’t abandon my checklist altogether, I will add to it specific “me time” and “R & R” activities. I’ll do something for myself each day that brings me joy. Will you do this, too? What replenishes you? For me that looks like a trip to Dutch Bros, browsing at Target or Barnes & Noble, or going to lunch with a friend or my husband. Also, the big take-away for me is that I can’t put off doctor visits. (Even with all my talk of discipline, this is a weak area for me.)

I truly wish Kate Middleton all the best in her convalescence. If royals need to take time to relax, heal, and put their health first, despite rumors flying like a frenzied murder of crows, that’s a lesson for the rest of us to do the same.

In summary, listen to your body and don’t resent it for getting sick. Use these times to really heal. Forget productivity. Productivity can be a great smoke screen for happiness and success if we allow it. Unchecked, it’s a killer.

Go and do something unexpectedly nice for yourself!

*I add a fair amount of hyperbole to my writing. I do not consider myself a master of discipline. I may have integrated a few beneficial tasks into my routine, but there are plenty that get no such attention. Like weeds, for example, and cracked windshields.