Productivity

Managing Productivity Anxiety Without Guilt - Tips

13 min

Managing Productivity Anxiety Without Guilt - Tips

Have you ever watched a YouTube video “How To Overcome Anxiety and Negative Emotions” by Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, a renowned and controversial psychologist? If you haven’t, here’s a quick TL;DW: Dr. Peterson doesn’t talk about productivity anxiety per se but mentions the term “anxiety” and the importance of self-reflection and understanding the nature of negative emotions.

In the video, he stated that emotions like fear, sadness, and anxiety serve as indicators, signaling that something in our lives needs immediate attention. If negative emotions become chronic, they can impact our mental health and overall well-being.

Based on that statement alone, we can agree that productivity anxiety is an indicator. But what kind?

Toxic work environment?
Unnecessary guilt?
Lack of boundaries?
Self-doubt?

I’d say all of the above (and so much more).

This article explores the causes and symptoms of productivity anxiety, helping you understand this paralyzing dread and offering simple yet effective ways to overcome it.

Let’s get started.

Table of contents:

What is productivity anxiety?
Escaping the vicious cycle of productivity anxiety
Wrapping it up: choosing calm productivity over productivity anxiety

What is productivity anxiety?

In layman’s terms, productivity anxiety is like an annoying manager nagging you to work more when you’re already overworked.

“You’re not doing enough.”
“You should be doing SO much more.”
“Why are you slacking?!”

Productivity anxiety and feeling overwhelmed

If these sentences sound familiar, you might have faced or are facing productivity anxiety.

So, in its essence, productivity anxiety is the crippling sensation you get when you feel like you’re not completing (enough) tasks or achieving your goals, no matter how many hours you work. It never seems enough. And what’s even worse is that you’re feeling guilty when not working and it looks like you have to be productive ALL. The. Time.

Busy vs. productive

This might be a good time to define the distinction between “busy” and “productive”.

“Busy” and “productive” are terms often used interchangeably. However, there is a significant difference. “Busy” implies that you are NOT completing tasks or using your time efficiently as you have too many things on your plate. Vice versa, productivity suggests you are getting things done no matter how many or few tasks you have.

People who experience productivity anxiety can use busyness as a way of being in control: if you’re always busy doing something, it can make you feel like you are productive. In reality, you are anything but productive, losing time on unimportant tasks, not prioritizing work properly, and procrastinating.

The most common productivity anxiety symptoms

There are many ways to tell if you have productivity anxiety, and it’s so much more than feeling stressed or pressured.

Here are some of the most common symptoms that may indicate productivity guilt:

You have overwhelming to-do lists. You're constantly behind on your tasks due to never-ending to-do lists.
You're a perfectionist. Most results you achieve are below your high expectations and don't seem like "wins".
You tend to work long hours without taking breaks. If you do take breaks, you immediately feel guilty.
You procrastinate. By procrastinating, you unconsciously avoid the fear of starting something and failing, which contributes to your productivity anxiety.
You simply can't relax. Although you tend to procrastinate and have leisure time, you can't enjoy that time as you are always thinking about your endless to-do list.
You compare yourself to others. You constantly compare your achievements to others, often feeling envious of other peoples' success.
You lack work/life balance. Your well-being is completely neglected, and you are on the verge of experiencing burnout.
You feel physical symptoms of productivity anxiety. These symptoms include muscle tension, fatigue and/or headaches, trouble falling asleep or waking up in the morning, etc.

Now that you know the signs of productivity anxiety, let's investigate further to find out why it's happening to you.

The nature of productivity anxiety

Productivity anxiety doesn’t just happen overnight. It’s something that had been building up in your body and started to show when you couldn’t handle the overwhelming feelings of stress and burden anymore.

Some of the culprits behind anxiety are:

The “hustle culture”. I’m a big fan of Nipsey Hussle and his motivational anthem “Grinding all my life”; Nispey’s dedication to his hustle is undeniable. But this “hustle culture” also implies that the busier you are, the more value you have; there’s a constant pressure to achieve, normalizing overwork and unhealthy work habits.
Demanding work environment. Due to the celebration of “productivity culture”, many companies promote demanding work environments. In reality, such an unstable work environment is among the most common causes of productivity anxiety.
Comparing your achievements to fake success presented on social media. Social media is an unrealistic world in which people tend to showcase only their success. If you have a tendency to compare yourself to others, you’ll always feel like you are not measuring up.
Mental health conditions. Conditions that affect your behavior, like ADHD and depression, can boost productivity anxiety symptoms.

Productivity anxiety and ADHD

When addressing anxiety at work and ADHD, Sharon Saline Psy.D in an article for Psychology Today, primarily focused on the term productive procrastination.

Procrastination is the Achilles heel for people diagnosed with ADHD, as they have a more challenging time starting and finishing things. And if you have ADHD, you know this too well.

In the article, Saline mentioned that procrastination is often a form of anxiety, as you are unsure of your ability to do the tasks how you want them to be done.

In its proper form, procrastination is a delay tactic that gets you the feeling you are doing something while avoiding unpleasant tasks. So, technically, you still do things that need to be checked off your list but tend to work on less urgent and important tasks first. And this short-term relief actually increases your long-term stress.

Here are five methods you can use to fight productive procrastination:

Break down big tasks into smaller ones. When you complete a task, it releases your anxiety about completing it. So, break big tasks down into smaller chunks so you can feel more relaxed about completing each task, no matter how small or big.
Have an action plan. Qualify tasks as easy, medium, or hard, and listen to your natural inclinations to them instead of against them. Then, set up an action plan and slowly but surely complete tasks from your list.
Work on your prioritization skills. Add time and value factors to identify which tasks from your to-do list need to be done first.
Get the hang of your emotions. To support your productivity, control your mood by listening to soothing or inspirational music or having your favorite beverage on the desk.
Create positive self-talk. Repeat phrases to talk back to the negative part of you, saying you should be afraid to complete tasks. Just reply to yourself, “I can do this, and I have succeeded in doing similar tasks in the past.” 🙂

Escaping the vicious cycle of productivity anxiety

Productivity anxiety, just like any feeling, can be managed if addressed properly.

Here are 5 tips that can help you ease the feeling of dread, restlessness, and tension.

#1 Become better at organizing

When you find yourself paralyzed by the number of tasks you have to do, here are some tips that can help you stop panicking and start programming yourself for a more peaceful approach towards work:

Adopt the “progress over perfection” mindset and count “small daily wins”. Every task counts, so start by completing just one.
Aim for average productivity. Research suggests that in an eight-hour day, the average worker is productive for 2 hours and 53 minutes, so don’t beat yourself up if you are not making the most out of 8 hours per day.
Break big tasks into smaller chunks. Working on smaller tasks doesn’t seem as daunting, and you will stay motivated throughout the task.
Make a list of the top three priorities. Use the 1-3-5 rule: select one primary task, three medium, and five small tasks to reduce overwhelm.
Avoid multitasking. Concentrate on one task at a time.
Replace tasks. If you feel like a task will take more energy than you can handle, replace that task with one that will boost your energy.
Say “no” to additional commitments and tasks when you already have a full schedule. There’s no need to add more to your hectic week; saying "no" is okay.

#2 Nourish your mind and body

It all begins in the mind, doesn’t it? So, try to give your anxiety-filled brain a break by:

Practicing self-compassion. Celebrate even the most minor achievements, recognizing your efforts and tapping yourself on the shoulders.
Practice mindfulness and meditation. Sitting still and letting go of intrusive thoughts can be challenging, but over time, you'll learn how to manage anxiety-provoking thoughts and focus only on the present moment.
Practice mindful eating. This may sound silly, but chew mindfully, paying attention to the food's taste, texture, and smell, as doing so will help you be and stay in the present moment.
Sleep 8 hours a day. Stress and anxiety are more manageable when you are well-rested, so find ways to improve your sleeping schedule and quality of sleep.
Exercise 3 times a week. Physical activity stimulates the release of endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine, improving your mood and acting as a natural painkiller.

Swimming as a form of exercise for reducing productivity anxiety

#3 Give your brain a well-deserved rest

Your brain is like a program whose language is behavior. For that program to work properly, you sometimes need to close all tabs and let it rest before starting it again. Here’s how you can do so:

Disconnect as soon as you finish work. Once your work day ends, there’s no need to check emails, talk with your co-workers on the phone for hours, or work on projects.
Create healthy boundaries. Personal and professional life are two sides of the same coin, existing separately yet holistically so keep them separate by setting healthy boundaries.
Go for a walk. To avoid picking up your phone and settling on a couch, take a walk; you’ll see that it improves your focus and cognitive ability.
Spend time doing what you love like playing games, reading, listening to music, catching up with your loved ones, etc. Your hobbies shouldn’t be a distraction from work; but a pleasurable feeling when you are doing something besides working.
Take time off. It’s okay to go on vacations and ask for sick days so your body can properly heal; don’t take your health for granted.

#4 Use a productivity tool

Nowadays, many (AI) productivity apps help you stay organized and on top of all your tasks. There are those that track your daily to-do list, as well as note-taking apps, focus apps, habit tracker apps, etc. At the enterprise level, some organizations go as far as leveraging intelligent AI agents in their everyday operations to boost productivity further.

This constant drive for efficiency doesn’t really promote the idea of “calm productivity”.

Thankfully, you don’t need to go to such extremes. My advice is to start with the most simple tool, the one that can help you manage your time.

For this purpose, I highly recommend using Memtime.

Why Memtime?

Because it won’t cause you more anxiety of having to deal with a start/stop timer to track your time.

Because it’s not an employee monitoring tool that will screenshot your work every couple of minutes or so.

Memtime is a quiet, you-won’t-even-know-it’s-there tool that captures every minute of your work. It can track your time in Slack, Teams, emails, Google Calendar events, Zoom events, and so on. Just start working like you normally would and let Memtime “catch” all your time on various tasks.

Here’s how Memtime can assist you in managing productivity anxiety:

You can analyze the timeline of all your daily tasks and activities to assess how your workday went.
You can identify areas where you struggled the most; whether it’s a time-consuming task or doomscrolling to avoid facing the challenging tasks.
Since you can import your calendar events into Memtime, you can see how much time you spend planning meetings, how long they tend to last, and what you are doing after the meetings are over (whether you take breaks because you feel overwhelmed or continue working).

Plus, Memtime keeps all your activity data offline, on your device only, so no one will know when your productivity anxiety is the highest and when your behavior starts to change.

Try Memtime for free today and start measuring your time to identify habits and tasks that trigger or make your productivity anxiety worse. We have a 2-week free trial with no credit card details required, so make the most of it.

#5 Seek professional support

If you tried everything on the list and none of the tips gave you significant results, perhaps it’s time to seek professional help for productivity anxiety.

Counselors and therapists frequently recommend methods like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT is a tested therapy method that can improve sleep anxiety, stress, depression, and phobias. Furthermore, this method can boost your productivity by teaching you how to handle the need for procrastination and get rid of “the perfectionist” within you by setting realistic expectations.

CBT can help you change your belief system

As mentioned above, productivity anxiety is often caused by comparing yourself to others and their success. Seeing your peers achieve everything with ease can trigger anxiety, as you feel as though you can never walk in their shoes because you are not “enough”.

The underlying issue of comparing yourself to others is that your self-worth is linked to accomplishments, as they support your need for validation and being seen. The sad truth is that once the accomplishment comes, you experience a momentary high, but the feeling slowly diminishes, and you feel a new void, a new need to achieve something.

The good news is that CBT can help you understand why achievements and seeking validation from others never truly satisfy you and how you change your mindset and start seeing your self-worth as much more than a list of accomplishments and goals.

Wrapping it up: choosing calm productivity over productivity anxiety

I recently stumbled upon an article by Chris Bailey titled “The productivity payoffs of a calm mind”. In the article, the “How to Calm Your Mind” author said:

As I write in the book, a calm mind is a deliberate mind, and a deliberate mind is a productive mind. Calmness may sound like an odd ingredient to become more productive, but in practice, the connection between productivity and calm is profound.

Choosing calm productivity over feeling guilty when not working

He then shared that a calm mind can focus better and has a much larger mental capacity, as anxiety decreases the size of our working memory. Calmness helps us stay engaged with more energy at our disposal. And when we focus better, tasks start to become more meaningful.

So, this is my message to you: start your work days by choosing to be calm.

And if you think it’s not a choice because you already have 14285838 emails and tasks waiting for you (and how can you be calm with the insane number of tasks already on your plate?!), my answer is simple: you wake up every day and choose how your day will go.

You either tell yourself, “Today’s going to be a good day,” and get up instantly, or you choose to lie in your bed and snooze the alarm for the 50th time, only to get up grumpy and overwhelmed.

You make this choice unconsciously every day, so I bet you can make a conscious choice to be more grounded and calm about your approach to productivity and efficiency. If you invest in being calm, you’ll stop seeing your work environment as a stressor and threat and start appreciating your skills and ability to contribute to the environment. You'll also be less emotionally reactive to meetings, calls, and urgent tasks.

I hope this article also brought you some peace and left you motivated to start your calm productivity journey.

Until next time!

Aleksandra Doknic

Aleksandra Doknic is a copywriter and content writer with six years of experience in B2B SaaS and e-commerce marketing. She's a startup enthusiast specializing in topics ranging from technology and gaming to business and finance. Outside of work, Aleksandra can be found walking barefoot in nature, baking muffins, or jotting down poems.