Overconsumption of Productivity Advice Makes Me…Slothful?

When I was naming my new blog, Microsoft Word provided me with these synonyms for the word productive: creative, prolific, industrious, fruitful, dynamic.

But what did Word say was the antonym for Productive?  —DESTRUCTIVE.

Hmmm….

This one made me think, I have to say. Does it mean that if you’re not productive, then you’re automatically destructive? As in, no longer building but instead destroying your life? That seems a bit harsh, doesn’t it?

In terms of personal productivity, I don’t think the opposite of being productive is being destructive. Stagnant, inert, stationary maybe. But not destructive.

However, I have discovered that over-consuming productivity advice has a negative effect on my attitude. A blog post here or there about how to be more productive is a good thing. A constant barrage of blog posts spoon fed to me by Feedly starts to become too much of a good thing.  Add a few leadership books on CD while I exercise and an hour of productivity podcasts in the car during my daily commute – and wham! Suddenly I’m in complete meltdown. As in, zero productivity occurring.

Overconsumption of food makes us fat. Overconsumption of alcohol makes us drunk. So, overconsumption of productivity advice makes us…slothful?

For me, the answer is YES.

How perverse! Yet true. The more I read, think, and listen to productivity and leadership propaganda, the more slothful I become. I find myself sitting at my desk, sad and depressed, unable to move forward on anything substantial.

I think the reason is, I become overwhelmed with everything I should be doing.

For example:

• I should write down every stray thought lest I lose it forever, or alternately think about it too much and become distracted.
• I should use this phone app to track my habits.
• I should use this calendar to plan my appointments.
• I should use this notecard to write thank-you notes to colleagues.
• I should keep a list of each of my 30 direct reports and spend a set number of minutes on Monday deciding who I should encourage this week.
• I should list out every project that I might ever want to do and keep it on a someday/maybe list that I will look at once a week and feel bad because I probably won’t do it this week, either.

Aargh! It all becomes too much. I freeze, overwhelmed with good intentions and unable to act.

Maybe what I should do is slow down and take a deep breath. Reading copious amounts of productivity advice doesn’t automatically make me more productive. What makes me productive is how I implement the suggestions.

And maybe, just maybe, every piece of advice I read isn’t right for me.

Part of the reason I started this blog was to focus my thoughts on the various books, blogs, and podcasts I’ve been consuming. Some things work for me and I’m happy I discovered them. Some things I’m still thinking about. And some things, frankly, I think are pointless, trite, or silly.

So, how do you feel about productivity advice? Is too much ever a bad thing for you? Or am I a lonely weirdo?

–Monica

PS – Photo of the sloth is courtesy of National Geographic, free wallpaper.