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A few years ago, my obsession[br]with productivity

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got so bad that I suffered[br]an episode of burnout

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that scared the hell out of me.

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I'm talking insomnia,[br]weight gain, hair loss -- the works.

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I was so overworked that my brain

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literally couldn't come up[br]with another idea.

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That indicated to me that my identity[br]was linked with this idea of productivity.

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[The Way We Work]

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Do you feel guilty if you haven't[br]been productive enough during the day?

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Do you spend hours[br]reading productivity hacks,

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trying new frameworks[br]and testing new apps

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to get even more done?

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I've tried them all --[br]task apps, calendar apps,

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time-management apps,

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things that are meant to manage your day.

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We've been so obsessed with doing more

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that we've missed[br]the most important thing.

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Many of these tools aren't helping.

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They're making things worse.

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OK, let's talk about[br]productivity for a second.

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Historically, productivity[br]as we know it today

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was used during the industrial revolution.

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It was a system that measured performance[br]based on consistent output.

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You clocked into your shift

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and were responsible[br]for creating X number of widgets

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on the assembly line.

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At the end of the day,[br]it was pretty easy to see

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who worked hard and who hadn't.

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When we shifted to a knowledge economy,

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people suddenly had tasks[br]that were much more abstract,

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things like writing,[br]problem-solving or strategizing,

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tasks that weren't easy to measure.

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Companies struggled to figure out

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how to tell who was working[br]and who wasn't,

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so they just adopted[br]the old systems as best as they could,

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leading to things[br]like the dreaded time sheet

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where everyone is under pressure

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to justify how they spend[br]every second of their day.

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There's just one problem.

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These systems don't make a lot of sense[br]for creative work.

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We still think of productivity[br]as an endurance sport.

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You try to churn out as many blog posts

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or we cram our day full of meetings.

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But this model of constant output[br]isn't conducive to creative thought.

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Today, knowledge workers[br]are facing a big challenge.

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We're expected to be constantly[br]productive and creative

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in equal measure.

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But it's actually almost impossible

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for our brains to continuously[br]generate new ideas

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with no rest.

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In fact, downtime[br]is a necessity for our brain

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to recover and to operate properly.

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Consider that according[br]to a team of researchers

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from the University[br]of Southern California,

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letting our minds wander[br]is an essential mental state

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that helps us develop our identity,

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process social interactions,

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and it even influences[br]our internal moral compass.

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Our need for a break flies in the face[br]of our cultural narrative about hustling,

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in other words, the stories[br]that we as a society

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tell each other[br]about what success looks like

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and what it takes to get there.

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Stories like the American Dream,

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which is one of our most[br]deeply rooted beliefs.

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This tells us that if we work hard,[br]we'll be successful.

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But there's a flip side.

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If you aren't successful,

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it must mean that you're not[br]working hard enough.

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And if you don't think[br]you're doing enough,

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of course you're going to stay[br]late, pull all-nighters

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and push yourself hard[br]even when you know better.

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Productivity has wrapped[br]itself up in our self-worth,

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so that it's almost impossible[br]for us to allow ourselves

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to stop working.

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The average US employee only takes half[br]of their allocated paid vacation leave,

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further proving[br]that even if we have the option

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to take a break, we don't.

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To be clear, I don't[br]think that productivity

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or trying to improve[br]our performance is bad.

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I'm just saying that the current models[br]we're using to measure our creative work

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don't make sense.

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We need systems[br]that work with our creativity

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and not against it.

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[SO HOW DO WE FIX IT?]

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There is no quick fix for this problem.

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And I know, I know, that sucks.

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No one loves a good framework[br]or a good acronym

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better than me.

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But the truth is everyone[br]has their own narratives

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that they have to uncover.

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It wasn't until I started digging[br]around my own beliefs around work

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that I began to unravel[br]the root of my own work story,

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finally being able to let go[br]of destructive behaviors

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and make positive, long-lasting changes.

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And the only way to do that

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is by asking yourself some hard questions.

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Does being busy make you feel valuable?

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Who do you hold up[br]as an example of success?

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Where did your ideas[br]of work ethic come from?

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How much of who you are[br]is linked to what you do?

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Your creativity, it has its own rhythms.

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Our energy fluctuates daily,[br]weekly, even seasonally.

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I know that I'm always more energetic[br]at the beginning of the week

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than at the end,

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so I front-load my workweek[br]to account for that fact.

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As a proud night owl, I free up[br]my afternoons and evenings

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for creative work.

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And I know I'll get more writing done

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in the cozy winter months[br]than during the summer.

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And that's the secret.

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Dismantling myths,[br]challenging your old views,

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identifying your narratives --

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this is the real work[br]that we need to be doing.

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We aren't machines,

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and I think it's time[br]that we stopped working like one.