I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I spend my time. 

Our society is obsessed with productivity — there are entire books, podcasts, courses, and lifestyles devoted to the topic. 

But while we think a lot about how much stuff we can do in a day (or a week or month or year), I don’t think we give enough consideration to all those activities we’re cramming into our lives.

Sometimes (myself included) I think we just like to be busy for busy’s sake, because it fulfills that cultural requirement of Being Productive and Looking Important. And it keeps us from having to think about the things we really don’t want to think about — death, difficult relationships, finances, eternity, the inevitable heat death of the universe, etc. 

Being busy is often easy when there are a million urgent-seeming tasks at our fingertips, screaming for attention with little notification flags or knocks outside your office door. 

So what is it we want to be doing with our work time? How about our free time? And what are we shoving into that time instead?

Did you really intend to spend 9 hours scrolling through Instagram last week? Was it restful, like you convinced yourself it would be, or enlightening, like you convinced yourself it would be, or “good for the project you’re working on”, like you convinced yourself it would be? 

Or did you finish up each Instagram-scrolling session feeling frustrated, angry, unfulfilled, dissatisfied, or empty?

Okay, I know it’s really easy to demonize social media, and I shouldn’t pick on such an obvious target. Because we do the same thing when we constantly refresh our email inbox, “multitask” by calling a relative while doing some graphic design work, or attend hours of purposeless meetings. We’re using up our precious time and energy without going anywhere or getting the rest and rejuvenation we need to be our best creative selves.

Being productive for the sake of being productive, and engaging in “restful” activities that aren’t actually restful, can make life seem more overwhelming and stressful than it actually is. Keep that in mind this week as you hit “refresh” on your email inbox, or argue with the trolls in the comments, just for the sake of having something to do.

Words & warmth,

Sarah