Why calling your Mum *should* count as productive
Is being ‘productive’ actually…well…productive? Let’s dig into what ‘being productive’ actually means for *you*.
Last week, the new term started at my son’s school, and with it came early mornings, school uniform and a new timetable. Whether you have kids or not, early September has a whole ‘Back to School’ vibe. A sense of settling back into a routine, as the weather starts to turn from lazy summer heat to misty autumnal earthiness. A feeling of getting stuck back into things! Making Progress! Being PRODUCTIVE!!!
But what is ‘productive’ exactly? Historically, it’s meant different things depending on the era. In ancient times, it was all about farming and crafting — basically, getting enough food and goods to survive. With the Industrial Revolution, productivity became more about cranking out as much as possible in factories, in as little time as possible. The 20th century shifted this to office work and leveraging technology for maximum output.
These societal, economic, and cultural forces have shaped the way we see productivity for ourselves.
Societal, economic, and cultural forces shape the way we see productivity for ourselves.
I’m currently working with an incredibly smart and successful client on changing how they spend their time. They want to spend more time on things that resource them (rest, exercise, hobbies, seeing friends), more time being present with their kids, and more time with their partner…while also progressing their career and a bunch of home projects (I’m guessing you can probably relate!).
It sounds like it should be easy to change how you spend your time…I mean — within the limitations of things like work hours and school runs and the like — just….do it!
But as you’ve probably experienced for yourself, it’s not that easy in practice. This is because the very way we look at how we spend our time, how we look at these various activities, is driven by unconscious beliefs we hold.
One of the beliefs we uncovered for this client was around which of these activities could be classed as ‘productive’. You can probably guess what their belief was telling them, but I’ll spell it out — work and home projects were ‘productive’ — all the other things were not (with ‘spending time on myself’ being right at the bottom of the scale).
When this gets paired with a belief that it’s better to be productive, or you should be productive, or it’s lazy to not be productive — well. How convenient for those who benefit from our labour! Too bad for our physical and mental health, our kids, partner, family and friends. Never mind, at least our house looks nice 😳
The way we look at how we spend our time, how we perceive the value of our activities, is driven by our unconscious beliefs.
A couple of days after coaching this client, I was in a co-working session with a new CEO, in the first week of her new role. She told me her intention for the session was to 1) ring her mother. This was going to be awkward for some reason, but it was important and she was emphatic that it really needed to be done; 2) clear out emails because she’d received a huge amount during that first week and wanted to get on top of them; and 3) if she still had time, reflect on everything she’d learned in her first week and plot it out on paper. She was completely clear about what she wanted to do, the importance of each task and the order in which she wanted to do them.
At the end of the session, I ask her how it had gone. She was visibly distressed as she told me the session hadn’t gone well. It turned out she’d called her mother and cleared her emails, but hadn’t finished her reflection exercise. Which when you look at what she intended to do…was exactly what she’d planned. She’d even predicted she wouldn’t finish her third task. But now she was berating herself for calling her mother, saying that the call had gone well but was a waste of time. Two hours earlier it had been her number one priority — what had happened? It wasn’t productive, she said.
A Practice
I invite you to set aside 10 minutes and consider/journal on your beliefs around productivity. It might be interesting to discuss these with your partner and/or children — your differences might surprise and interest you!
Here are some prompts to help you (pick and choose which ones speak to you):
- What activities do you consider to be productive?
- What activities aren’t productive?
- Who decides what’s productive? How? Why?
- Take three of your ‘non-productive’ activities. In what ways can these be seen as productive?
- What are some of the differences between important and productive for you?
Comment below with your insights, I’d love to hear them :)
On Monday 23rd and Monday 30th September at 6pm BST (recordings also available), I’ll be hosting a two-part Time Block Party!, in which you’ll time block your calendar (actually inside the sessions) so you can create space for what matters most. You can find out more here.
