Ignore anyone who tells you there is only one way to be productive

Do you know what’s frustrating? (Besides figuring out how to grow basil successfully, which is driving me a little bonkers right now.) Being bombarded by emails from people who insist that they have the end-all-be-all answers to being a productivity whiz who can, and I sadly quote, “get more done in less time.”

Which honestly makes my stomach knot up every time I hear it.

Yes, I wrote a book titled DONE, but I never, in 292 pages, said, “do this to get more done in less time.” (I double-checked to make sure.) With everything I have to take care of each day, the idea of cramming more into my 24-hours so I can get EVEN more done exhausts me. And I know I’m not alone.

Productivity is how you define it.

Every day I see and hear more and more coaches, trainers, and middle-aged guys named Mort forcefully pushing the idea that being productive 24/7 is the only way to exist. That you have to give up on having any shred of fun (as you define it) in your life.

Their favorite words seem to be: “you HAVE to.” And they preach it like it is the gospel. They believe you must fully embrace the never-ending circle of achievement so you have more time to work harder and achieve even more.

This week, I read an article from a productivity coach, who I will not name, informing me that there was only one way to get things done. It was their way and their way only. They basically said that productivity sprang from getting up at 4:30 a.m., meditating, praying, reading, exercising, eating only locally-sourced organic vegan food, scheduling every single minute of the 1440 available each day, abstaining from the news, social media, caffeine, soft drinks, juices, alcohol, and stimulants of any kind.

All of which strikes me as draining. And joy-suckingly boring.

To be clear, I’m not anti any of these things.

Do it if it works for you

Get up at 4:30 a.m. if that inspires you. Pray, meditate, read, and exercise to your heart’s content. Eat what you want, love, and function best on. Schedule your day with Swiss precision if that inspires you. Abstain or enjoy what you want. If you feel any or all of this works for you, then do it. But these are not one-size-fits-all answers to getting things done. They are just one person’s example.

For the author of the article I read, all of these things obviously work, which is terrific for them. It still doesn’t mean it will work for others. Unfortunately, the bottom line of the article was (and I may be paraphrasing just a bit): “My system is THE way you must follow to be productive 24/7, and if you don’t do it, you are cursed to be a procrastinating billy goat for the rest of your life.”

Ugh.

Sucking out the joy

In my view, this is a fantastic plan if you’re someone who wants to suck the joy out of your life in the name of getting things done. It makes me think of a scene from the movie The Princess Bride, which I rewatched for the 428th time this weekend.

The villain, Prince Humperdinck, decides to punish the love of Princess Buttercups’ life, Westley (AKA the Farm Boy and the Dread Pirate Robert), by sucking the life out of him using a torture devise known as The Machine. With each turn of the Machine’s crank, years and years of life are sucked out of Wesley, and with it goes his energy and joy, leaving him mostly dead.

This is exactly what I think of when I read yet another article or see another story pontificating on the virtue of giving up things that make you happy in the name of productivity. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to end up feeling mostly dead.

But why?

Having something to do and aspire to and take care of puts the cherry on top of the thing we all call life. Whether it’s putting together a report, getting out to the park to take a walk, or building your own personal global empire, having things to do makes our lives interesting. But none of it should require that you give up every tiny shred of joy in your life in the name of getting things done.

Productivity doesn’t have to be a lifeless slog of endlessly tracking Every. Single. Thing. You. Do. It doesn’t mean timing everything to be efficient, habit tracking like a fiend, time-blocking every hour of your day, or telling people that you have the perfect system that everyone has to follow just because you think they should. Most importantly, it doesn’t mean rejecting the things that bring joy to your life.

It also doesn’t mean that striving for productivity is wrong and should be ignored.

What it does mean is that we might want to think about stepping back and realizing that productivity strategies should be something we enjoy, just like butter and chocolate fudge, and that we should use them thoughtfully without having to worry about what someone else believes.

Ease up on the comparisons

One thing that would help? If we stopped comparing ourselves to others when it comes to what we can and do get done each day. Study after study tells us of social media’s profound damage when comparing ourselves to others. (And yes, I realize that you are probably reading this on a social media platform. The irony is not lost.)

But the comparisons that we all subconsciously make when someone shows us that they are getting so much stuff done really need to end.

Productivity comparison is a losing game

I know, I hear, and I roll my eyes at the whole “Beyonce has the same 24 hours as you do” crap which is spouted as near-universal motivation and truth. Yes, she does indeed have the same 24 hours that you and I have. She also has (and this is the key that gets forgotten more often than not) lots of money, and with that money, she pays a staff who takes care of things for her.

She has employees tasked to do the stuff that she doesn’t want to, all so she can create, rehearse, and do all the things that make her Beyonce. Chances are you currently don’t have a squad of staff at your beck and call doing everything for you. I don’t.

We all have the same 24 hours, but what we can do with that time is all different. And no one should ever feel bad about that. We can’t all get up early and meditate, nor can we all eat vegan (or even want to eat vegan). We also can’t (or don’t want to) block out all the news in the world that doesn’t make us happy, sequester ourselves away from social media, or schedule every minute of every day.

Cut yourself some slack

But here’s the not-so-secret-secret: you don’t have to do any of those things. Especially if doing them makes you unhappy or unable to take care of things in your life that you want to or need to do. Being productive or efficient all boils down to cutting yourself some slack and figuring out what works for you and you alone.

You might be someone who collects productivity hacks to follow, and they inspire and delight you and help you get things done with a smile on your face. Then my friend, rock on!

You might be someone that loves to plan things with the dedication and zeal of a bride-to-be planning a 3-day-long epic island-destination wedding. Knowing what has to happen when and where gives you the confidence and energy to ignore distractions and charge forward. Then plan away!

On the other hand, you might be someone that lives for dedicated systems and tools to follow and guide your day, like the navigational equipment on a supersonic airplane. If so, then fly high!

Everyone is different, and to enjoy your life, you have to work with your strengths and desires. No one would ever expect or require every Olympic athlete to train the exact same way. It would be impossible.

A gymnast has to train differently than a weightlifter, and a rower trains much differently than a figure skater. Yet they all are working towards a goal of stepping on the podium to receive a medal.

So stop comparing how you accomplish things with how others achieve their goals.

Start feeling good again

Being productive and efficient shouldn’t be something you feel wrong about. It shouldn’t be something that makes you contort yourself into someone unrecognizable. It should all be part of what works for you.

You don’t need to be comparing yourself to anyone else. You don’t have to be grabbing the next big thing because someone out there in the world said you have to because that’s what works for them.

Just send them a big, virtual high-five congratulating them on discovering what makes them happy, and then go and find out what works for you.

There is no one-size-fits-all for getting anything done. What works for me probably won’t work the same for you. And anyone who tells you differently should be avoided at all costs. Find what works for you and makes you happy. Use it as your secret weapon to a happy and, dare I say, productive life.