Illustration by Nahuel Bardi.
Most of us are drained. The “surge capacity” we called on early in the crisis is now depleted.
What’s more, there was already a trend toward burnout in the US before 2020 ratcheted our stress through the roof. From my perspective, that means it’s high time to consider adopting a new attitude toward what it means to be “productive.” One where rest and tenderness are as much of a priority as speed and efficiency.
Key takeaways from this meditation:
- How resilience relates to acceptance, even in the face of uncertainty
- Why now is the perfect time to re-examine our ideas about productivity
- How to move through your workday with more tenderness
Go Deeper
RESET, a cosmic tune-up for your workday. RESET is a course created by Hurry Slowly host Jocelyn K. Glei that shows you how to let go of productivity shame, be more tender with yourself, and get back in touch with the natural rhythms of your energy, your attention, and your creative flow. Registration re-opens on Sept 29th at reset-course.com.
Get Jocelyn’s brainwaves in your inbox. If you like Hurry Slowly, you’ll love this twice-monthly email highlighting new ideas about how to be more creative, productive, and resilient. Sign up at hurryslowly.co/newsletter.
Favorite Quotes
“We’re all feeling it. A strange, sort of ineffable, sense of energetic drag. Like you snagged your enthusiasm on something about six months back and as you slowly walked onwards deeper into this landscape of uncertainty, it’s been slowly unravelling.”
“One of the qualities of people who are resilient is that they accept reality. Which seems almost funny because it’s so obvious. But accepting reality isn’t easy right now. And part of the reality that we need to accept is that we are under a massive amount of psychic, financial, political, and social pressure. And just wading through all the emotions and challenges that that brings up takes a lot of energy. Which means that we just have less bandwidth than we normally would to accomplish the things that we need to do.”
“This pandemic is an opportunity to re-examine our attitudes toward productivity. We can take advantage of the magnifying powers of this moment to see the toxicity of some of our standard habits and routines, and perhaps begin to replace them with a more tender, humane approach to work.”
Sponsors
HEY transforms email into something you want to use, not something you’re forced to deal with. Visit hey.com to find out how the friendly folks at Basecamp have completely reinvented email to make it effortless.
Resources
The references and ideas I mention in this epi:
- Your Surge Capacity Is Depleted — It’s Why You Feel Awful
- Man Not Sure Why He Thought Most Psychologically Taxing Situation…
- The Hurry Slowly episode “Who Are You Without the Doing?”
- My course RESET, a cosmic tune-up for your workday
Call to Action
If this episode resonated with you, I would love your support. Subscribe to the show in iTunes and write us a review.
Every rating helps us attract new listeners, which allows us to keep making the show! : )
You can write a review on your phone here: hurryslowly.co/mobilereview
