I’ve taken a sick day from work, as I haven’t properly recovered from a busy weekend and I was feeling mentally and physically drained. This was definitely a good decision, and I thankfully got so much time back (I had no time on the weekend) and instantly I made a to-do list of things I’ll push through and do anyway. Why do we feel the need to always be productive?
When you were a kid, after you came back from school or on the week, in your free time you would just do whatever you wanted, not really clock-watching. You could spend all day doing a jigsaw puzzle or riding a bike without considering whether it was ‘productive’. You got messy, you had a laugh, it was just…fun.
I think about this a lot as an adult(a bit sad I know). I struggle with free time, as I always feel like I should be doing something productive. I’m aware that this is a result of social media and the pressures of ‘hustle culture’ and if you’re not making money then what are you doing etc. but it’s still very hard to get out of the shackles when making money is a priority in an ever expensive world (thank you cost of living).
When I was younger, as a child and teenager (pre-Instagram account), I didn’t really care for what I spent my time on. If I wanted to spend the whole Saturday doing a 3D jigsaw, then I’d do just that. This was obviously because back then I didn’t need to cook, clean or run errands as I have to do now. Therefore, with the limited free time we have in adult life whilst working full time, I feel like the free time needs to be intentionally productive and working towards my future otherwise it’ll be ‘wasted’. Some people take this to the extreme, working way into the night for it. I draw the line at sacrificing sleep and I will die on that hill. Have you ever felt that way?
Whilst starting this blog, I’ve put a lot of pressure on myself to make sure these posts are good and that one day, loads of people will read them. This has stopped me from posting regularly, or at all. The same goes for my Instagram account @acupofteawithav. I got through phases of posting and not posting, for the same reason of I don’t think ‘it’s good enough’. The pressure comes from nowhere but myself.
But why does it have to be good enough? Why can’t I just create for the sake of creating? Why does there always have to be an end goal of making me money and becoming ‘successful’? This pressure means that every blog post I have to write needs to be perfect. I tell myself that I don’t have time to learn how to draw, I need to know how to draw quickly so I can start putting it out there for everyone to see and make money and become ‘successful’. It doesn’t give space for the rough drafts, for the 1000 bad blog posts before the good ones, or the 100s of hours spent reading and watching YouTube video to learn about investing.
I also find this with starting a hobby as an adult. Everyone always expects it to go somewhere and become the best at that, either winning competitions or making money from it. It is tough to do something without an end goal as an adult because you’re often pouring your own money into it. We seem to lose the joy of just doing something because it’s enjoyable, without an end goal.
I feel with such ‘little’ free time I(and many adults) have, instead of just typing out a quick blog post of whatever I’m thinking about, I’ve opted to do something else instead because perfectionism gets in the way. As humans, the best motivation is seeing progress. I listened to a podcast episode about Steven Bartlett telling his employees the successes of the company regularly so they can see the progress they’re making, which keeps their momentum going. That’s exactly what I need to do in my life, focus on the journey to the mountain instead of being fixated at its peak.
I’m all for visualisation if that works for people, but for me, it feels like I’m already there if I’m visualising it. This tricks me into thinking I already have something, without seeing the hard work which isn’t a well-laid-out path along the way. Take buying an apartment. It’s a structured process which has steps to tick off and then you get there. Following a creative path is not that at all. You don’t know whether you’ll go viral, or maybe it takes over a decade for anything to happen.
The important thing I need to remember is consistency and the 1%. If I work at something for an extra 1% every day, then by the end of the year, I’ve grown 365%. Now that’s phenomenal. Life is for living and enjoying the moment. From Ali Abdaal, I need to really embody the ‘fun’ aspect of productivity. I shouldn’t be forcing myself to do something creative, I should just do it because I want to. This is precisely the mindset I’m going to take with me this week.
On reflection, in the journey to be happy and advance your career and self, don’t forget to just simply enjoy yourself and give yourself a break along the way. Try not to clockwatch on your next day off, and just do something because you want to. It’s not ‘wasted’ time if it’s done intentionally.
