Toxic Productivity, Recognize The Following 5 Signs

Toxic productivity illustration (Unsplash/Kevin Bhagat)

JAKARTA – Toxic productivity or productive but toxic conditions because it exceeds the capacity of time and ability is not new. But according to two reference sources, this term began to lift during the pandemic.

The pandemic situation and undergoing quarantine or working from home make those experiencing it have blurred boundaries. The human side to be moved and the other human side that has boundaries collide so that the effect is bad for mental health.

Reported by Huffpost, Monday, September 13, the term toxic productivity is used to refer to people who are workaholics. But the real situation today makes the term applied to someone who works beyond his duties even his capacity.

According to a number of experts, the following are signs that someone has a great desire to be productive but is toxic to their mental health.

1. Feel like a failure if you are not productive

One of the understandings of being productive in the business field is to stop working when the task is complete. But not for someone who has a great desire to be productive.

According to Simon Milasas, a business coach and author of Joy of Business, toxic productivity can make us feel like a failure if we don't continue to complete tasks beyond the jobdesk.

2. Assess yourself based on what you haven't done

This is why evaluating work is important by drawing a milestone map. If you measure yourself based on what you haven't done, you can run so fast that you miss what you've accomplished.

3. Feel guilty if you enjoy relaxing time

The pattern of toxic productivity, according to Kathryn Esquer – a psychologist and founder of the Teletherapist Network – enjoying leisure time without feeling guilty is rarely experienced by someone with toxic productivity.

4. Likes to push himself

Working according to portions or tasks and enjoying optimal rest time is more mentally healthy than constantly trying to force something that doesn't exist into your task. This is toxic productivity, according to Milasas.

Illustration of night work (Unsplash/Jonas Leupe)

5. Unusual fatigue

Everyone who works certainly feels tired. But according to Milasas, feeling abnormally tired could be a sign you're experiencing toxic productivity.

This is felt when you wake up in the morning, you feel tired. Previously, maybe you had meetings via Zoom and did other tasks at your desk. Another sign, using a lot of jargon so that they spend more time worrying about the meeting being too short.

According to Milasas, the funny thing about toxic productivity is not born from official management at work but inside our heads because we have desires, such as being more recognized, superior, more accomplished.

A clinical psychologist at the Trauma and Beyond Psychological Center, Dr. Joanne Barron, said that toxic productivity is entrenched when all achievements are judged based on what has been done and ignores the intrinsic value of being a human being.

Quoting Barron's words as reported by the Gray Journal, the identity of someone with toxic productivity is raised by a culture that evaluates itself as evidenced by recognition, achievement, and not planned achievements.