Do you have 'Productivity Guilt'?

“Productivity guilt” is a thing, and it’s most common amongst high achievers.

It's the constant feeling that you should be doing more, and that you're not maximizing your time.

They say clients are a reflection to help coaches work through our own stuff and let me tell you we see this A LOT with the ambitious clients we work with.

And in full transparency, this pattern still comes up for us often and we're learning to work through it.

If you feel guilty when you’re not doing something productive, here’s 3 things that could help:

1️⃣ Understand that perfection is not realistic - and striving to hit this standard will only lead to disappointment and frustration.

There are times when having high standards are important but sometimes putting in “B” effort is actually better than overextending yourself to create “A+” results. You only can handle so much cognitive load before you start sacrificing your personal priorities and well being

2️⃣ Don’t fixate on how far you are from where you want to be.

Being growth-minded often means you have a vision of being the ‘best’ version of yourself - more disciplined, more successful, better at setting clear boundaries etc. So when you aren’t there yet, it can make you feel like you’re not doing enough. Instead, make sure to carve out time for regular reflection and celebrate the small steps you’ve taken so far.

3️⃣ Shift your perspective around down time.

A big mistake we see a lot of high achievers make is they keep pushing past the point of diminishing returns. Meaning they’re no longer productive, but they can’t stop staying busy working on the pebbles and sand instead of the rocks (i.e. the needle moves), and they run their battery to empty.

Instead of believing that rest is equivalent to “doing nothing”, think of it as “intentionally recharging” as a way to support your energy and creativity so you can be even MORE productive when you get back at it.

And yes, sometimes it makes sense to schedule your recharge time in if you’re having trouble being consistent with it!

ps. If you're looking for support, we offer a free call where we can see what type of support would be best for you. You can apply for the call here.