Moderation Is the King of Productivity
Take it easy, my friend.
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Even now, I remember how it felt like to lose something of value. I was merely 8, and I lost my toy truck which I later believed was stolen. I remember my mother telling me not to worry, and that if I work harder in school, I would get enough money to buy all the toys in the world.
I hazily remember my first experience as a child, as to what the world was like. I was clear on that the harder I work, the more productive I am, the more money I would make, and the happier I would be.
My mother was just being a mother — comforting her child and trying to turn his boiling emotions into a motivation to reach his full potentials. Sadly, I grew with that notion doing the exact opposite.
Society’s mind trick
Hypnosis. Yes. The same process of taking away one’s consciousness while they are still awake. And today, with our options — and often our happiness — being snatched right under our noses, how sure are we that we are not hypnotized?
I was reading a book on how to pick women (a long story for another day beginning with me having a crush on a pretty girl) when I came across something grand, or so I thought. The writer mentioned something he tried to do to maximize his productivity.
It is what the neuroscientists called polyphasic sleep, a sleep schedule that consists of only 20-minute naps spaced throughout the day, totaling two to three hours of shut-eye per day. It was proven effective. Given more hours to stay awake, I thought I’d also give it a try.
You have to excuse me for when I read that book, I was obsessed with being “productive”. I was in a constant race with time. The “if you are not first, you are last” kind of thing, and always thought that working more means more productivity. But in truth, I was racing myself and will never win, even if I did.
After the first day of my sleeping adventure, I realize that I didn’t need it after all. Man, we so underappreciate how blessed we are to just be able to sleep. What began as an exploit in productivity led to me discover a lot of things wrong with my concept of productivity.
Growing up in a world where it is easy to be a failure and people becoming millionaires “overnight”, it has become more than necessary to do whatever it takes — including sacrificing my mental health — to achieve my dreams. I felt I was in the right state of mind for being the way I was.
But what are my dreams? To be a writer? What kind of writer? Do I want to be rich, successful, and famous? Or do I want to be happy and free? Even so, what does it means to be productive?
I killed a part of me, and you should too
Italians have a concept they called “Bel far niente” and it vaguely translates to “the beauty of doing nothing”. I first came across it in a memoir of one named Elizabeth. And It took me less than a second to realize that this is what I needed my entire life. I needed to begin thinking of the ways to find beauty in doing nothing.
A voice in my head protested all it could. But I knew better. I know what I want when I see it and knew that it was high time to kill that side of me. It was damn hard but I am glad I did.
Before this decision, my life was a wreck. And the worse part is that I was blinded — by society — to realize it. I thought to do all I was doing, chasing life at full speed without looking at the rear mirror, was “living life”.
I took great pleasure in knowing that I burned the midnight oil working on a project, irrespective of what that project was or what it meant to my career than having a sound sleep after watching couple episodes of f.r.i.e.n.d.s.
It was hard breaking from this vile cycle. I felt myself lacking a sense of direction as I ease down and reflect on who I am as a person. I felt I was being lazy and avoiding the turmoil of building the career I would be proud of. Which begs the question, what career do I wanna pursue?
Oh, no! It dropped on me like a bomb.
I know that I wanted to be a writer, or a blogger, or a copywriter, a freelancer, a hustler, or some digital marketing guy. But what I specifically wanted to become and excel at? I had no idea. I realized that no matter how much I try to mask it, I had no sense where I was headed.
I was so consumed by my desire to be great, reading all the self-help books I managed to lay my hands on, that I didn’t even have a clear picture of what I want out of life.
What does it take to be productive?
Let me stop right here and tell you something I might not get a better chance to. And it is that being productive is mostly not that productive. I am saying this from experience, and not something I learned on paper or a YouTube video.
Think of the worst band you can imagine and picture listening to someone praise them with all their might. Oh, yeah? That is how we convince ourselves into thinking that we’re being productive by working more.
Being productive, as I later hate to admit, is more of a mental approach than a physical one. I know what it felt like because I used to be a workaholic and believe me, to some extent, I still am.
To be productive, you have to take it easy, it is that simple.
To establish your brand, you feel compelled to have to post on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, even Pinterest; and the hardest part is that it has to be regularly. It feels the right thing to do… until it isn’t.
You feel compelled to wake up at a specific time in the morning, go through a carefully selected routine, even if your eyes are practically urging you to go back to bed. “Goddamit, Alice. It has been more than a week since we had a consecutive 5 hours of sound sleep”. But then you gotta build that will power and self-discipline, right?
You feel like there is always room to improve, seeing you haven’t completed half the good stuff you’re promised that if you do, will grandly change your life for the better, making you unstoppable. And isn’t that what we ever wanted?… to be unstoppable?
You feel a lot of things… but do you? Do you know what it feels like to take enough time with yourself and figure out the purpose of all you do? Do you ever take a second to picture what happiness is for you? Are you sure that you want the same concept of what life should be as it is being shipped to you by the media, daily? Getting a huge amount of money, traveling the world, and becoming famous? Is that it?
I can only speak for myself, and I now know that I want nothing of a lot of the things I had long cravings for. I don’t want to be famous, no matter how shocking that might sound to you. No, I don’t.
I want to make a stupid amount of money, yes, but not at the expense of a lot of things, the top on the list being my mental health. I don’t wanna sacrifice myself for any financial, or career success — thanks to Elisa who made sure I now understood that. I would want to travel the world, but if it means doing it alone, then I’d rather stay in my room and read the coolest psychological tricks on Quora.
It is not weak to slow down
This might be another insecure young man scared shitless to pursue his dreams and hiding behind all the excuses he could muster to make himself feel better about his failure. Poor me.
You might be right. And that’s a problem, but mostly for you. I have come to terms with what I am ready to spend another ounce of energy on. I have my whole life mapped out, this time for real. And I discovered my fair share of funny shit. Do you?
I also know that my greatest drawback is in thinking that all this was just me giving up. But if living and breathing freedom off the shackles of this norm and breaking so fiercely from the hypnosis I was cursed in to… is giving up? Then I gave up, gladly. And I will do it again when given the chance.
I have never been this productive in my life. I have never been this creative. I learned to appreciate and find the beauty in doing nothing and it was one of the hardest things for me; that doesn’t make it any less exhilarating.
I am not saying you should abandon all your dreams, all the hard work you’re putting into your ongoing projects, and do nothing. I am merely telling you the story of how slowing down made me reflect on my life choices and gave me the window to view productivity with a fresh set of eyes.
Break free and moderate.
Habits are very powerful. It is the continuous repetition of activities without even thinking twice about it. To even realize that what you are doing is a habit takes careful mindfulness which can not be achieved without a conscious effort to inspect your world. You can’t do that while at full speed, my friend.
Whether our habits contribute to the bigger picture of what we want out of our life, is out of the question — if we have a clear picture of what we want, that is. I know I didn’t.
Halt the idea of what being productive means because that might be the internet’s version and not yours. While a lot of what has been said about productivity seems to be working for a lot of people, it is no guarantee that it is working for you.
To be productive means to figure out, consciously, whether what you are doing is moving you closer to your better self. It is not a pill to a disease that gets prescribed to you and others with the same infection by a physician. Plus even if it were, there are minor differences in patients that can affect their medication — say allergy for an instance. And so there is that.
“Everything in moderation, including moderation”, said the Irish poet, Oscar Wilde.
Do not be a blind follower, I beg of you. Strike anything that you don’t feel is aiding to your growth no matter how right the society made it sound. Open your eyes and break free of this hypnosis.
There will always be an excuse to do more, but know that doing more doesn’t equal being more productive. Learn to embrace moderation and it will surprise you as to how productive you’ll be.
Productivity means doing what matters to your growth. And knowing what matters comes when you slow down and take a deep breath. It comes when you moderate.
