Daily Gleanings: Productivity (5 December 2019)

Jory MacKay discusses productivity shame and strategies for coping with it.

MacKay defines productivity shame as the sense that you’ve not gotten “enough” done.

In a whole host of areas, completely finishing work is a state that never materializes. There is always more to do.

So to avoid feeling the shame of having not done enough of the endless work you have in front of you, MacKay recommends five strategies:

1. Refocus away from getting more things done and toward “being decisive and confident with how you’re spending your time” on what’s most important.
2. Divide your work into manageable chunks that are completable so that you can see your regular progress.
3. Set up support systems for yourself using whatever tools or processes you find helpful (e.g., RescueTime, Todoist, GTD).
4. Disconnect from work at the end of your workday.
5. Reflect on what getting “enough” done would really look like for you so that you can strategize about how to set yourself up for success in the future.

For more, see MacKay’s full discussion on the Doist blog.