Reevaluating Productivity
Who are you and what are you doing with your life????
Welcome to All the Tasks Fit to Print, my newsletter on all issues productivity-related for authors (and other solopreneurs)! Watch for my new book, Holistic Productivity: Essays on a New Vision for a Well Balanced Life!
In a late-night conversation, a friend and I revisited our childhood lessons and directions set for us by our very different yet eerily similar mothers. They were both women shaped by mid-twentieth century demands for female perfection, even if they responded differently to them.
The early choices they made for us—shaped by perceived career potentials rather than our interests—highlight a broader issue prevalent in today’s productivity-focused “hustle” culture: valuing the endpoint more than the journey by pushing us toward material achievements (money! Career! Upward mobility!) rather than what we cared about.
It took both me and my friend half a lifetime to realize that while we could do whatever we wanted (empowerment!), we were constantly pushing aside what we really wanted to do for what we were expected to do (obedience!). It’s a lesson we’re still unlearning.
But it has deeply impacted my work as a productivity coach. I emphasize a shift from rigid goal-setting to embracing a holistic vision of self-actualization through my Personal Projects Management (PPM) method.
The foundation of PPM is your guideposts, which are different from how people think about “goals.” They require you to consider not just the outcomes of your efforts, but why they matter deeply to you. This method is not about filling every hour with task-oriented productivity, but about ensuring each task is meaningful and aligns with your personal values and joys.
For example, think about the simple joy we get from our hobbies. Something like playing a banjo or cosplaying your favorite superhero is not about becoming rich and/or famous, but about the joy the activity itself gives you. Treating such passions as guideposts gives them the attention and respect they deserve, without the pressure of a “productivity.”
Moreover, by viewing activities like parenthood or hobbies through the lens of guideposts as opposed to goal-oriented trajectories, we focus on the experience rather than the outcome. This perspective allows us to live more fully in the present, appreciating each moment rather than just the milestones.
I challenge you to consider your guideposts: those roles and endeavors that define not just what you do, but who you are.
Strip away the goals temporarily. Does your current path still resonate with who you want to be, or is it merely a race toward an arbitrary finish line? In the same way my friend and I had to learn how to define ourselves outside of our mothers’ expectations for “perfect daughters,” consider who you are when you are not trying to be who (or what) other people believe you should be.
If you’re curious about PPM and wonder how it might help you discover holistic productivity in your life, check out my book Rise to the Task: Master Holistic Productivity with Personal Projects Management. It is a guidebook filled with simple explanations, advice, and worksheets on implementing the basic principles of holistic productivity!
Watch for my new book!
