Productivity Purgatory

I heard Chris Williamson define a term that explains one of the biggest problems in my life. It’s sad to say, but if I had a weekend to myself at home, where I didn’t have any plans and I couldn’t work - I don’t know what I’d want to do. I love having fun but in my adulthood I feel like I’ve forgotten many of the things I like to do just because I enjoy doing it.

This is what Chris Williamson calls ‘Productivity Purgatory’ - things you do for fun only because they create more productivity later.

For years I’ve called this ‘Compulsive Productivity’ and it’s exactly what I do with my free time. It's the desire to want to get a really good workout in, challenge myself to a long meditation, go for a walk by the beach, watch an intellectual interview on Youtube, or do something that contributes to my long-term well-being in my free-time.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with those things, but if you’re like me and have a hard time seeing past that on an average day, then perhaps you’re in productivity purgatory too.

For me, I’ve convinced myself that doing things that refresh my mind, body, and soul are fun. I really like the idea of filling my time with rejuvenating things today so that I take care of the vessel I’ll be using tomorrow.

But I also acknowledge that it’s healthy to have hobbies, activities, and outings that you do just for the fun of it. And in that category, fewer things come to mind.

I think the main point I’m trying to make is - Trying to do productive and healthy things in your down time contributes to the narrative that we always need to be doing something. That if we aren’t making the most of an opportunity, we’ll later regret the things we missed and wonder how high we could’ve climbed had we applied ourselves.

So for a moment, let’s reject that notion and just do something because we want to. Because it’s fun to do! And weave in grounded joy as a counterbalance to our big ambitions.