Slow Down: The many faces of consumption as productivity
Imagine these scenarios:
Scenario 1:
It’s Saturday morning. You don’t have anything planned today. As you’re brushing your teeth, you realize you only have half a tube of toothpaste left. You say to yourself, “Oh, I better go to the store and get more toothpaste today!” Now, instead of spending the day without plans, you have something to do.
Scenario 2:
You’re looking around your house and suddenly decide there is a nook that would really benefit from a cabinet. You must get a cabinet for that space.
Scenario 3:
You are giving a presentation at work. You cannot give the presentation without first buying a new jacket. Suddenly, you are in the market for a particular jacket.
Scenario 4:
You need a break from work so you’ll just run some errands.
Have you ever found yourself in any of these scenarios? I can say that these are scenarios I know all too well. I recently found myself in two of these scenarios and I started to wonder what was going on for me.
Our home has a nook in it that, I’ve suddenly decided, would greatly benefit from a cabinet. I’ve added “find cabinet for nook” to my mental to-do list – not only giving myself something more to do, but also giving myself the ability to check it off once it’s done. I have also been witnessing Scenario 3 come up, and while I’m not giving any presentations, I’ve been noticing the pressure to buy things to “prepare” for our child to come. What do we need to buy in order to be ready for their arrival?
Sometimes we really do need certain things for certain purposes, but often we mistake the act of consumption as productivity. We habitually buy things to feel like we’re accomplishing something. This makes sense - our culture rewards output. We’re given the premise that you should be productive at all times. So, instead of slowing down and being okay with not being productive, we find something we need to buy.
Instead of accomplishing necessary tasks, or engaging in activities that truly fulfill us, we escape by buying items that make us feel like we’ve accomplished something. Buying stuff to “get ready” obfuscates the true getting ready: learning, and mentally and emotionally preparing. Running to the store to get toothpaste when you’re a month away from needing it feels good – you took care of something (and you may have also bought other stuff that you didn’t need). Deciding you suddenly need an item gives you a reason to go do something.
Pay attention to times when you find yourself wanting to buy something to be productive and think about why it might be. Are you postponing something? Are you simply afraid to slow down?
Take the time to really slow down. You don’t need to be productive all the time. You don’t need to add more to your list. Buying something won’t make you better prepped or accomplished. Pay attention to empty tasks that only make you feel like you’re doing something. All these expenditures might make you feel like you’re getting closer to what you want, that you’re being productive, but they are all only a placeholder for doing the work you need to be doing. That work can be the work of the necessary task, or maybe even the necessary task of being okay with being with yourself.
So, give yourself grace to do something that isn’t productive. Read a book to just read, not for some goal. Go on a walk just to go on a walk, not because you’re trying to get your steps in. Pick up a hobby only because you enjoy it.
When you feel like you need to be productive, assess where it is coming from. In the words of Billy Joel, “slow down, you’re doin’ fine”.