Four Mindset Shifts to Combat Productivity Guilt

There’s a moment that happens right when you walk through the door at the end of the day, or maybe as you shut down your work computer or pull into the driveway after picking the kids up. You’re looking forward to finally relaxing for a moment, taking a walk, shutting your brain off, maybe watching an episode or four of that ridiculous reality show you’ve gotten into. But the guilt descends, and you think:

I can’t do that. I need to be productive.

Productivity guilt is the number one thing I hear from clients about. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever worked with anyone who was not dealing with it in some form.

So, let’s talk about 4 mindset shifts to help you engage with it differently:

Shift 1: Put it in historical context

Productivity guilt dates back to Calvinism, a form of Protestantism that started in the 16th century, spread throughout Western Europe, and was then imported to North American colonies. One of its important tenets was that salvation (in the Christian sense) was pre-determined, and you can tell who the saved are because they are hard workers. This is where we get the term “Protestant work ethic.”

Sociologist Max Weber argued that this was hugely important to the development of Western economies because it induced people to work hard as a matter of morality and religion. This doctrine has incredibly deep roots. Even today, when many people would not characterize themselves as religious or even spiritual, productivity as a matter of morality persists mostly unexamined. But you can examine it. Ask yourself: Is productivity how you want to measure your value or the value of the people you love?

Shift 2: Guilt is not always a sign you’ve done something wrong.

When I ask people why they think they experience this particular form of guilt, invariably the answer is, “Because I haven’t been productive enough.” But that’s not true. Productivity guilt shows up universally, no matter how much you get done. If, by some miracle, you ever get to the bottom of your to do list (spoiler alert: no one does), productivity guilt will stubbornly refuse to go away. It can be better understood as a habit of mind than an actual indicator of truth or reality. Guilt is not a reliable compass.

Shift 3: Guilt is best friends with anxiety

Anxiety and guilt go hand in hand, and sometimes to deal with guilt, it’s necessary to first deal with anxiety. A hallmark of anxiety is a wound up nervous system that has you feeling like irritable, defensive, edgy, and in general, like prey. When the nervous system is wound up, the mind tries to come up with an explanation as to why, and often, its explanations are completely off base.

Your mind will tell you you’re wound up because you forgot to turn the oven off, because something awful is going to happen, because you’re just a terrible person, or because you didn’t get enough done today. You don’t effectively counter anxiety by arguing your way out of it. You counter it by calming the nervous system. Trying to get more done is counterproductive.

Shift 4: You can feel guilty. It will be ok.

Again and again, I hear from clients, “I can’t do that because if I do, I’ll feel guilty.” What’s unspoken in that is, “I absolutely cannot feel guilty.” You can, and it will be ok. Practice tolerating small amounts of productivity guilt. Build your muscle for this. The more you allow guilt to be in charge, the more it will jerk you around, and the more powerful it will become. Stand up to it instead. Feel the guilt and go for a walk or watch your TV show anyway.

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