Is It Okay to Be Unproductive? Why You Should Stop Feeling Guilty.

Something that I have struggled with for the last few years is the feeling of guilt when I’m not being productive. By productive I don’t just mean work, but self-improvement. Self-improvement could be making more money, reading a non-fiction book, exercising, learning… anything that helps you grow compared to who you were yesterday. Don’t get me wrong, I am a true believer in growing as a person. In fact, one of my core beliefs is that every single one of us should try to grow 1% each and every day. Where I struggle, however, is letting that mindset spill over into feeling that I should be making every minute of every day as productive as possible.

Society Only Measures Productivity

The world in 2022 in an interesting place to live. There are 7 billion people alive on the planet at the same time as you. At no other point in human history, with the exception of the last 15–20 years, would you have had the ability to know what they’re doing, how they are living their lives — you wouldn’t have had the insight to make the comparison between your lives and theirs. But you do now. The result of this incredible invention is both a blessing and a curse. I could ramble on about the false connections social media causes us to feel or lust for, but I’ll save that for another day. Today I want to focus on the content that is being thrown at you all day, every day. With every scroll or swipe on social media, it is possible to find someone with more money or more muscles, someone who appears happier or who has your dream home. If you are like me, this can often leave you feeling like you aren’t enough the way you are.

Historically, this has always led me down a path of productivity. A constant drive to make subtle improvements in my life at every turn. To work hard every day, keep my head down and let the rewards come in time. It has led to me creating businesses, starting this blog, reading a pile of interesting books. Each of these incredible experiences that have shaped my into the person I am today. What I have never done well though is find balance. Every time I open my phone, there is something to remind me that I should be doing something more productive, that relaxing is a waste of time and my precious time is escaping me. But, as I reflect on this feeling, I find myself asking, “is it all bad?”” Is being unproductive something we should frown upon and feel guilty for? Or, perhaps, it brings its own benefits that we aren’t acknowledging because they hold no social currency.

I referenced earlier that I hold the belief that we should all strive to get 1% better every day and I do truly believe that. Compound interest is a fact of life so it is inevitable that those 1% increments add up over time. Usually I relate this to exercise, reading, learning, etc. What I have never included under the banner of growing each day is happiness, gratitude and contentment. It is somewhat ironic, as these three feelings are also core beliefs of mine. I try to practice gratitude every day and I believe that contentment with where I am in life is an important part of being happy. So why I have never included the maintenance or improvement of these feelings in that 1% improvement? Perhaps the most obvious reason is that they hold no social currency, or at least they haven’t.

Be Kind to Yourself

Even as I write this blog, I find myself thinking about how much better we would all be if we redefined our definition of success. Rather than focusing on material objects, perhaps we should instead learn to measure our success by how happy we are. Some may argue that it is a luxury for me to question whether I should care less about money and material possession and focus more of my time and energy on being content and happy, and you could well be right, perhaps it is. None-the-less, I am going to do it anyway.

I am going to challenge myself to expand one of my core values. I will always hold the opinion of 1% growth every day. However, I am going to expand my definition to be inclusive of happiness, contentment and gratitude. Rather than measuring it entirely by my financial state or by my physical condition, I will also focus on the maintenance and improvement of my mental state as well. Rather than beating myself up for having an unproductive day, I will learn to acknowledge the value that taking some time to ourselves can have on our lives. The same way that I have built habits to keep the house tidy and keep learning, I will also build habits to treat myself with kindness, rather than contempt. Moving forwards, I will be putting this at the forefront of my mind. I would like to encourage you to do the same.