Productivity is a great habit and it’s necessary for meeting your writing goals. However, the drive to constantly do more and do it faster had serious downsides. In a post on Writers in the Storm, Karen DeBonis offers advice for combatting toxic productivity.
Dr. Wayne Dyer defined toxic producivity as “a state of mind where people feel they have to be productive all the time, no matter what the cost, be it personal relationships or family life.”
(This is basically Western capitalism. Just say Western capitalism.)
Do you feel guilty taking breaks? Does downtime make you feel anxious? Do you dislike activities that aren’t goal oriented? Do you feel anxious and directionless when you actually hit a goal? Do you write to hit a word count goal without regard to what you’re doing? You may have toxic productivity, DeBonis says. This mindset has negative consequences, for your work and your health, such as increased cortisol levels, leading to brain fog, high blood pressure, and other health problems; heart disease; neck and back pain; and depression.
Writers are admonished to write every day, but is this helpful? “Many creatives excel with this type of consistency,” DeBonis says. But some don’t. “I don’t write every day, unless you count tweets, emails, texts, and grocery lists. And even if I wanted to sit my behind in my chair and tap away for a set amount of time or a certain number of words, my chronic health issues sometimes make it impossible to concentrate.” Many successful writers don’t write every day. Hamilton creator Lin Manuel Miranda said that the idea for his musical came to him during a period of creative rest.
The worst thing about the advice to write every day is that we can feel shamed when we don’t. DeBonis recommends remembering these words from Daniel Jose Older: “Every writer has their rhythm. It seems basic, but clearly it must be said: There is no one way.”
