Why Do You Want to Be Productive So Badly?

How to Work Hard in Your 20s (And Still Have a Life)

2 reasons why you’re not being productive.

People are obsessed with productivity. They read article after article and watch video after video. You’d think our work ethic was out of this world, but while people love learning about how to be productive, very few are productive.

The problem with studying how to work harder (or smarter) is that it gives you the same sense of accomplishment that working gives you. In his book Ego Is the Enemy, Ryan Holiday shared that after “so much time thinking, explaining, and talking about a task, we start to feel that we’ve gotten closer to achieving it.”

If you were to look at yourself from the outside, you’d see you were still sitting on the couch, reading on your phone. You’re not closer to completing your work.

Your obsession with productivity isn’t making you more productive. Your head might be loaded with advice, but how much of it have you applied? Have you improved?

Before you read yet another article about organizing your time, you need to ask yourself one question. Why do you want to be productive so badly? The answer matters a lot more than you think.

Here it is: Being productive isn’t hard.

The task you work on can be hard, but in general, working isn’t difficult. People think productivity is about losing sleep, ruining relationships, and burning out. Productivity shouldn’t look like a raging war. Work is love.

I’m obsessed with working because I want to work. Since I care about my goals and enjoy what I do, being productive isn’t difficult. (Not always, at least. I’m still human and have lazy days.)

Some people are obsessed with the idea of being productive because they feel guilty for not working. They don’t work because they want to. They do it because they feel like they don’t have a choice. Does this sound like you?

You’re turning to articles about the Pomodoro Technique and bullet journals, but they’re useless to you right now. I’m not saying you should never read…

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