How to work less for the sake of your sanity: the secrets to losing productivity guilt
- Workaholic journalist Anna Codrea-Rado wants to cut down on to-do lists, be less productive, reclaim her sanity and work more healthily
- She consults experts who say workaholics are less productive and perform no better than the rest of us – and advise letting go of guilt about tasks left undone
My New Year’s resolutions used to always be about doing more: earn more, work out more, write more. As a self-employed writer who’s paid by my output, I have no choice but to be well-organised and self-motivated.
But this year I have resolved to do less. I don’t mean cramming everything into a shorter working week, nor do I want to work “smarter”. I just want to work less.
Granted, I can opt out of hustle culture because I can afford it. But I’m not pursuing a life of leisure, I’m trying to reclaim my sanity.
I find myself constantly preoccupied with getting stuff done. My to-do list runs on a loop in my head whenever I’m in the shower or while I’m walking the dog. Those are the few times in my day I’m screen-free, but I’m still assaulted by a constant feeling of 1,000 red-alarm emoji flashing across my mind’s screen.
Grudgingly, I’ve come to accept that perhaps my relationship to productivity isn’t all that healthy and it’s time to take drastic action.