How to Deal With Toxic Productivity?

Productivity is at the core of every achievement, whether it’s success at work, in the gym, or any other aspect of life. 

But when we break the boundaries and try to be at the top of our game without ever resting, we can fall into the trap of toxic productivity. 

This silent enemy prevents us from enjoying life and being truly efficient. 

Let’s learn how to spot it and skillfully deal with it.

What is toxic productivity?

Toxic productivity is the need to be constantly productive, even at the expense of self-care and overall health. 

Another word for it is — workaholism. However, while workaholism is usually related only to work, a person with toxic productivity displays unhealthy patterns in all areas of life.

For example, reading a book for pleasure might feel like a waste of time — instead, the book has to be about personal development or productivity. 

Or, you always need to listen to productivity podcasts while cleaning or cooking, because these activities aren’t ‘worth’ your time. 

Finally, the inability to unplug from work and the never-ending desire to be productive are the main reasons why toxic productivity is so harmful.

What causes toxic productivity? 

Mental health experts agree on several major causes of toxic productivity, including:

• Competitive work environment — new hires and juniors may feel the pressure to work harder to be able to advance their careers,
• Upbringing — individuals raised to believe their worth is tied to productivity are more likely to feel the need to stay productive at all times,
• Negative emotions — toxic productivity can develop as a response to avoiding negative emotions,
• Job insecurity — if an employee’s job is on the line, they may try to work even during their personal time instead of spending time relaxing, and
• Social media use — millions of posts glamorize relentless productivity and endless workdays as positive things we all need to aspire to. 

To top it off, business owner Kraig Kleeman warns that companies may accidentally invoke toxic productivity by praising employees who work extra hours and acquire more projects:

“Sometimes companies inadvertently encourage toxic productivity by rewarding employees who work late or take on too much work. If this is the culture, employees may be pressured to work hard.”

Main signs of toxic productivity

Experts often associate toxic productivity with some red flags. 

So, here are a few warning signs you should consider:

• Feeling guilty when not productive — if you’re unproductive, you feel guilty or even ashamed for wasting your free time on ‘meaningless’ activities. 
• Perfectionism — research suggests that perfectionists have increased levels of workaholism. In other words, they never stop working until they’re completely satisfied with the outcome.
• Constant tiredness — productivity anxiety and no time to rest result in constant fatigue and irritability, which in turn leads to burnout.
• Low satisfaction levels — if your employees are never satisfied with their work, they may be in the beginning stages of toxic behavior.
• Neglecting self-care — employees may skip showering, exercising, eating nutritious meals, or even going to the toilet just to be productive.
• Inability to relax — toxic productivity can lower your ability to unwind and enjoy fun activities such as going out with friends, reading a book, or swimming.

With proper self-reflection, you can spot these signs on time and address the issue.

Effects of toxic productivity on physical and mental health

Prolonged toxic productivity increases the risk of burnout, anxiety, and depression. As per research on work addiction, people with higher addiction to work are twice as likely to develop depression. 

Apart from that, working too much and the inability to relax or practice mindfulness can affect personal relationships. That’s because healthy relationships require space, spontaneity, and quality time as often as possible.

Lastly, without the much-needed rest, sleep quality deteriorates and affects our everyday functioning. In fact, sleep deprivation is one of the leading causes of obesity, heart problems, and weakened immune systems. 

But what can you do about it? We explore that next.

How do you break toxic productivity?

Don’t worry — toxic productivity isn’t a given. Here are several effective ways to break free from it. 

Set boundaries at work and stick to them

Your employees should know exactly what their working hours are. This can be easily done with proper scheduling. 

So, organize shifts in a way that benefits both your business and employees.

For example, to give your employees more free time in a week, try introducing a compressed workweek. This way, your business won’t suffer, and your staff will have more time to relax and unplug from work.

Create smart goals 

The key to reducing the constant need to be productive is to set goals with reasonable deadlines. This will make the employees more relaxed as they’ll know they have enough time to complete tasks.

Also, you should revise these goals frequently to make sure you’re on the right track and that your employees aren’t being overworked.

With work-life balance and no pressure, toxic productivity will begin to lessen its grip on your employees. Soon, you’ll see the work dynamics begin to shift for the better. 

Seek professional help 

Experienced psychotherapist Israa Nasir wrote a fantastic book called Toxic Productivity, in which she argues that you can only become soundly productive if you deal with negative emotions first:

“If you learn to identify and manage shame, guilt, perfectionism, comparing yourself to others, you will be more productive in a healthier, sustainable way.”

To do this successfully, sometimes it’s necessary to seek professional help. Whether it’s in the form of talking to a psychologist or reading books and educating yourself about toxic productivity — the goal is to feel better. 

And sometimes, the issue can be resolved on your own. 

Human potential coach Kamini Wood shares her way of dealing with toxic productivity, which includes being present, open, and self-caring:

“I have focused on an emphasis on work-life balance, encouraging non-negotiable self-care, and opening conversations about boundaries. I utilize mindfulness process focus rather than outcome focus.”

Encourage healthy productivity at work with Clockify 

As an employer, you want your employees to be productive but not at the expense of their physical and mental health. 

The right tools can help you create a stimulative environment — and have your staff be highly efficient and maintain a work-life balance. 

Our easy-to-use time tracking software, Clockify, is perfect for scheduling projects for your employees. This feature allows you to:

• Schedule an existing project and add a new one,
• Create milestones with projects with multiple phases, and
• Hide a project scheduled later during the month or year.

Toxic productivity can occur in any industry. Fortunately, Clockify can be used across all sectors, from transportation to healthcare.

Remove the ‘toxic’ from productivity.