Why Keeping Tabs On Your Productivity Does Not Help
Mint Mumbai|January 29, 2024
Productivity guilt can drum up the anxiety to maximize each minute of each day, pushing workers into burnout and into giving up
Vangmayi Parakala
Why Keeping Tabs On Your Productivity Does Not Help

Two years ago, when New Delhi-based Paridhi Poddar, 29, now head product designer at lifestyle accessories brand DailyObjects, was in the midst of launching a collection, she found herself stuck in a cycle of guilt and frustration. She would hunker down at her desk every day to begin following the long list of the to-dos she had to check off.

At the end of each day, tired but consumed by guilt that she’d not gotten enough done, she would end up taking work home, and staying up with it till late, not getting enough rest. She’d be back at work the next morning, doing the same thing all over again. Soon, as she’d started catching glimpses of colleagues taking breaks, she wondered if hers was a sustainable way to work.

Anubhav Nath, 42, director of Delhi gallery Ojas Art, feels the same way between December and February, when the season of art fairs and fashion shows starts—despite having worked all year. Guilt gnaws at him; he starts wondering about everything that he could not get done the rest of the year.

Whether you blame it on hustle culture, or tying one’s self-worth to one’s work performance, or the evil of comparing one’s progress with someone else’s, the pursuit of being productive and the burden of guilt when it feels inadequate seems to have become a fixture of today’s workplace.

This can happen to anyone, irrespective of their designation or position: “Productivity guilt is when an individual feels guilty for not being able to fulfil expectations of being productive or being able to complete ‘meaningful’ tasks that would help them improve certain aspects of their life,” says Divija Bhasin, founder and head psychologist at The Friendly Couch, a mental health organisation in Delhi. “The root cause depends on the individual’s history, and people have different reasons for having this guilt.”

Denne historien er fra January 29, 2024-utgaven av Mint Mumbai.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra January 29, 2024-utgaven av Mint Mumbai.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA MINT MUMBAISe alt
World Bank calls for reforming skills training in India
Mint Mumbai

World Bank calls for reforming skills training in India

India must make a coordinated effort to reform and rebrand vocational skill training, besides aligning education with the job market, to leverage its demographic advantage to meet the $5-trillion target for its economy, the World Bank said.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 23, 2024
Mint Mumbai

FCPA cases take long to conclude after indictment

For investors keen to know the fate of billionaire Gautam Adani's indictment by US authorities, the watchword is patience.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 23, 2024
Short-covering, relief rally add ₹7.27 trillion wealth
Mint Mumbai

Short-covering, relief rally add ₹7.27 trillion wealth

Markets up 2.39% to hit the highest in six months, a day after Adani's indictment

time-read
2 mins  |
November 23, 2024
Wetter monsoon slows pace of adding new transmission lines
Mint Mumbai

Wetter monsoon slows pace of adding new transmission lines

India's addition of new power transmission lines fell by half over a year earlier in the April-October period as a wetter-than-usual monsoon slowed work.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 23, 2024
COP29's $1.3 tn fund plan disappoints Global South
Mint Mumbai

COP29's $1.3 tn fund plan disappoints Global South

The 29th edition of the UN climate change conference in Azerbaijan emerged from a deadlock with an annual climate finance goal of $1.3 trillion for developing countries, much to the disappointment of the Global South.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 23, 2024
Jaguar rebrand is pink, diverse and doesn't feature any cars
Mint Mumbai

Jaguar rebrand is pink, diverse and doesn't feature any cars

Luxury automaker Jaguar is betting that a colorful and youthful rebrand will help it successfully launch fully into the electric-cars market.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 23, 2024
Mint Mumbai

Services up as manufacturing slows in Nov

The HSBC Flash India Services PMI was at 59.2 in Nov from 58.5 in Oct; manufacturing PMI fell slightly from 60.4 to 60.2

time-read
1 min  |
November 23, 2024
MSMED may protect medium firms too
Mint Mumbai

MSMED may protect medium firms too

The Centre may consider including medium enterprises for the protection granted under MSME Development (MSMED) Act, 2006, to resolve payment disputes.

time-read
1 min  |
November 23, 2024
Europe boosts Indian textile exports in FY25
Mint Mumbai

Europe boosts Indian textile exports in FY25

Demand for Indian handloom, apparel partly fuelled by Bangladesh crisis

time-read
2 mins  |
November 23, 2024
Mint Mumbai

RBI nudges banks to cut speculative bet in rupee

The Indian central bank, in a rare move, instructed some banks to cut their long positions on the dollar-rupee pair on Friday, seeking to curb speculative positions with the currency at a record low, four bankers familiar with the development told Reuters.

time-read
1 min  |
November 23, 2024