Toxic productivity
Matthew Johnson
18 replies
I've been thinking a lot about burnout, productivity, and hustle culture lately because I wanted to write a blog post on it. Here are some interesting facts I came across during my research:
š© Most people overestimate the number of hours they work by 5-10%. People that claim to work 75 or more hours per week overestimate by roughly 25 hours
ā³ Productivity declines sharply after working 50 hours in a week. At the 55-hour mark, it drops so much that any additional time is almost certainly not fruitful.
š¤·āāļø Managers cannot distinguish between the output of workers who put in 80 hours per week and those who just pretend to
š„ Long hours, plus all the effects of long hours (deteriorating health and relationships) lead to burnout. You can't "crush it" if you're burnt out.
š People who take their full vacation time are more productive and satisfied with their jobs
If you are interested in learning more, here's my full article: https://taskablehq.com/blog/avoiding-hustle-porn-and-toxic-productivity
Replies
Alexandra Cote@alexandracote
The Content Odyssey Newsletter
As someone with almost 6 years of experience in the productivity space, I've researched and talked to enough people to know that most are super focused on finding cool hacks. In reality, being productive is so easy to nail with simple tricks. But these simple tricks often require building new habits. This is why most would rather have a tool or helper to start building that habit.
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A remote working solution.
Thanks for calling this out. There's definitely a trend of showing off how hard you work (with some big names endorsing it). In the long run, it is a recipe for disaster and a road that leads straight to burnout. I find that working for the sake of working gives no time for introspection and zooming out to see the bigger picture. That's why it is often an inefficient smoke screen. I strongly believe a healthy balance of active and "background-mode" work is a way to go.
Nice stats. Thanks for sharing
i am pleased to upgrade my project very soon. thank you.
Great article, Matthew!
On point! Thanks for sharing
WorkHub
A fantastic article. We have forgotten the distinction between productivity and toxic productivity. And have begun to believe excessive productivity is good, whereas it is toxic and leads to burnout
This is quite a common issue, please suggest me if you find any solution for it.
My Ascension
Warmup Inbox
@litebluetips Manage focuses not time.
The metrics which matter is the number of hours worked, and the hours when you can focus.
If your focus is too low to work get a break and try to work again later.
Know what time of the day you have the best focus and schedule your most important work there.
Startup-Investor Fit
@litebluetips As I mention in the article, find a productivity system that lets you be as focused as possible and make the hours you do work count. I use timeblocking (and for full disclosure am building a timeblocking product) and I can squeeze in much more focused work in a shorter amount of time with that system.
That are very helpful stats. You have done a great job.
Valuable Insights
I completely agree to all the points mentioned, more working hours does not guarantee any productivity but it can certainly take a toll on your health both physically and mentally. There is a very thin line between being productive and being overworking.
KnowledgeBase
Hustle culture is a very dangerous trend that simply leads to depression and burnout. It seems to me that technology does not help as it should, we are so bombarded by "other people's" desires and success stories that we begin to take them as our own goals.
Hustle culture comes from the conviction that something is missing in our lives, that we must succeed. If we are not productive then we feel guilty that we are wasting our time and this leads to higher levels of fear and anxiety and lowered self-esteem. Very valuable and necessary article!
interesting, what are your thoughts on implementing a 4 day work week? Increasing the working hour by 1 in each of the 4 days but having 3 days off so you only lose 4 workhours in a week ?
Startup-Investor Fit
@nicky_ahuja if that works best for you, then great! I think it really depends on the person. I try and use Fridays for fun projects and such so it sort of feels like a day off but I still am making progress on my startup.