Hyper-Productivity is killing your results and slowly killing you…
In this mode, you are “always ON”, and is one of the main signs and reasons that you are burning out. Being “always ON”, sets the baseline of your Central Nervous System on high alert, creating the chronic stress response in such a way that switching to the rest and recovery mode of the Central Nervous System is not easily attainable.
Your normal is now set to go, go, go, with no rest in sight.
Truth is, when we never give ourselves time to rest, we become less effective at the very work we are trying to produce. Add to that the blurred lines between work and non-work, and the recipe for a culture of burnout has been created.
Hyper-connectivity makes it so we are not only available to our boss’s at 10PM, but we can also check our personal media accounts and scroll through websites during work hours (not allowing time to take an actual break from anything). And no matter what time of day, always carving out time and effort to curate the perfect social media post and make sure to sufficiently engage with your online communities.
Sound exhausting? Yes, it does to me too!
So, no matter whether you are on or off the clock, the body and mind register this Go-Mode as working.
In a recent Ezra Klein Show episode “Work as identity, burnout as lifestyle”, he interviewed Anne Hellen Petersen who write the viral Buzzfeed Article on Millennial Burnout and Derek Thompson whose article in the Atlantic topiced Workism stating that work has become the new religion at the expense of our mental health.
This need to always be creating something of value - a product of some sort that justifies and gives life meaning. This is hyper-productivity. This is worksim. This is chronic stress. This is life-sucking and leads to joyless living that is burnout.
Now, I don’t like talking about burnout. I mean burnout sucks, right?! But I gotta talk about burnout enough to get the word out so we can actually start to make changes. As an individual and as a culture, we need to get out of burnout so we can sustain our existence and thrive!
Let’s get off this will roller-coaster shall we? Hit the off button already. Not forever, but to regroup and learn how to get on and off at will.
How to be sustainable in a hyper-productive world?
Since the end goal of being hyper-productive is being and feeling effective at work and other areas of life, then choosing to recover from Burnout is a win-win. You get more done with less stress.
But how?
I’ll tell you… it is quite simple, yet not easy.
Here it is, The Burnout Cure:
Choose to value rest just as much as productivity.
Make necessary changes in how you think, feel, and act to align with this new priority.
Simple right? Yet not easy, since you have been doing it differently for quite some time and new habits take commitment, dedication, and a rock solid support system to create.
Change is possible, and if you are ready to regain your joy and vitality, than the work is worth it.
Please comment and ask questions as we move forward in this healing process together!
Xo, Charlene