Week 1, Day 4

Week 1: Being Finite

Day 4: Against Productivity Debt

Summary: Many of us feel we’re never productive enough as if our existence is conditional on achieving more than we currently do. Burkeman particularly warns against feeling that we need to realize our potential. If our potential, a very abstract term, is limitless, then we can never do enough to fulfill it. Burkeman suggests that we keep a running “done list” where we keep track of what we’ve done every day rather than the guilt inducing, never-ending to-do list. Doing so might shift our mindset and help us to make better choices about what we focus on.

               I too feel like I’m never productive enough, but I’m not sure that I would want to banish my perfectionism. My source of stress is not my to-do list, but rather my inability to prioritize the items on it and separate important ones from those that don’t matter at all. I often feel just as guilty over forgetting to fold laundry as I do on the days when I fail to reach my writing goal.  

Homework: Prioritize items on my to-do list.