Redefining Productivity
Hello again, friend!
Let’s take a step back and redefine what it means to be “productive.”
To do this, I’m gonna give you some more inspiration/motivation and a little sneak peak into my average day-to-day life.
To be honest, my day-to-day life is pretty humble and simple.
You might even call it mundane.
Though I live in an idyllic place, it’s not like I’m in a constant state of euphoria surfing all day, creating art, and gorging on apple bananas and mac nut butter without a care in the world (though that would be ideal, of course).
I work a full-time entry-level job in the evenings and have many lazy days spent in my apartment like anybody else.
I used to beat myself up all the time about how “productive” I was each day.
I chalked my value and self-worth up to how much I got done in a day or how “meaningful” what I did was.
I still often do, but less so now.
Every day I felt disappointed because I didn’t think I was doing “enough.” I constantly felt like I was “wasting my life” because I wasn’t doing anything “meaningful."
It took a while to finally believe that taking time to rest and care for myself and not constantly work myself to death is ok.
That it's necessary and productive and meaningful.
To be honest, it took getting my heart broken, losing all sense of self, falling into a deep depression, and going to therapy to learn how to reframe my mindset and have finally grace for myself.
Desperate for an escape from the mental turmoil, I began to focus on making an effort to do at least one thing everyday that filled me up.
I began to prioritize caring for my mental health over anything else.
I had to learn to shift my mindset into believing that taking care of myself is productive, even if that looks like just laying on the beach listening to music, doing absolutely nothing.
I had to remind myself that just because I wasn’t tirelessly and ambitiously working myself to death on something didn’t mean that I wasn’t being “productive."
Prioritizing my mental health has essentially become a deeply ingrained habit and has quite literally changed my life for the better in pretty much every single aspect.
I found myself again, gained confidence, discovered new hobbies and interests, made new friends, and ultimately just felt happier. I was also able to show up better for my closest friends and family.
If I don’t take time--any time--out of my day to do something that calms me or brings me joy, I definitely notice a decline in my mental health for a bit.
It may not look “productive” and “meaningful” but it is far more productive and meaningful than anything else I could possibly be doing.
I mean, how can you be “productive” if your mind is going haywire? How can you work on anything deemed “worthwhile” if you feel anxious, depressed, drained, etc?
Mental health comes first!
Anyway, monologue aside, my days in a nutshell can be summed up as a mix between self-care and working on personal and business goals (and maybe running errands).
My current *ideal* typical days (during the work week) generally go like this:
5:30: wake up and head out to the surf! I try to surf for at least 1 ½ -2 hrs every time I go out to make the drive worth it and get a good amount of water time. If I don’t go surfing, I do yoga to start my day.
Make breakfast and get ready for the day
Check emails and work on business tasks (for example, writing & planning content). This is extremely time-consuming and often takes up most of my morning. Something that most people don’t know about being an artist is how much stuff goes on in the background that has nothing to do with creating art.
Work on an art project. Depending on the project and how much time I have before I have to go to work, I can spend hours on this.
Make lunch & get ready for work
Practice guitar (if I have time).
Go to work.
Wind down and hit the hay!
Pretty simple and definitely not mindblowing, but it works for me and my current life goals and lifestyle.
My old work-a-holic never-gives-herself-a break self would probably have a heart attack at the simple and seemingly meaningless things I do everyday now…but my present self has never been happier sooooo…
who cares?
This slightly disorganized ramble is all to say that I hope you always carve out time to take care of yourself everyday, and to not get so down on yourself about how “productive” and “meaningful” what you are doing is.
When you feel like your life is a little unremarkable, just think about all the things you currently do that you love to do.
If these things make you happy, if they're meaningful to you, they're meaningful.
They're “productive.”
Take a step back and give yourself some grace. Don’t feel like you have to be constantly doing something that’s “profound” and is what this hustle-culture society deems as being “productive.”
Again, if what you are doing is ultimately beneficial to your mind and body, it is productive and meaningful.
Take care of yourself, my friend. You matter.
Keep doing what you love. Make the time for what brings you joy and peace, because that is truly productive.
As always, thank you for being here.
So much aloha,
