👀 So... what have you been up to?

An issue about being productive 👩🏻‍💻

It's been a while since I last wrote! Life has been non-stop. The picture above was taken in Sumba, Indonesia, where we were lucky enough to spend some time in in July. Also, the last time I wrote I'd just finished a yoga workshop which was in May?! And now we're in September?!

I haven't been up to much recently. We got back from Indonesia at the beginning of August, and life has just been mostly filled up with the usual suspects — yoga and work — and some other boring obligations you have to do as an adult. One of these obligations include applying for a permanent residency, which unfortunately has taken up a little bit too much of my time. I suppose it's just the nature of these things, but it really hasn't left me with much time to do anything else.

I'm sure I do a little bit more than these little bits — work out, work, eat, sleep, repeat — but it doesn't really feel like it. For me, one of the the hardest questions to answer is when someone asks what I've been up to. I don't know... work mostly? Yoga in the morning. And we go out from time to time... nothing too exciting.

I always wonder what answers people give to these questions. The thing is, I'd like to do more. I'd like to write more. I'd like to build something. I'd like to do more calligraphy, I'd like to do yoga teacher training, to learn to code, to revamp my closet... But when do people have the time to do more?

Maybe it's what the cool kids call toxic productivity — feeling like I always have to do something or get something done, otherwise I'd just be wasting my time. I hate having something hanging over me, so slowing down isn't something that comes naturally to me.

But how much of it is toxic? Because I can see the opposite being just as toxic — not having anything to do would surely negatively influence your health and wellbeing? I'm pretty sure there are studies that confirm the positive associations between a sedentary lifestyle or lack of brain stimulation with ill health.

So what's the answer – what are we supposed to do with our spare time (if we have any!)?

Keeping the brain stimulated

I remember my mom being worried about my dad when he was about to retire — work was something that would keep him active and his brain stimulated, what would happen if that was taken away?

That was a good few years ago, and he's been fine. He's got a small business to keep him busy with, and he's got a healthy social life.

My mom's fear was not unfounded. Lots of studies (Teychenne, Ball & Salmon, 2010; Maden & Bayramlar, 2022) have shown the negative effects that a sedentary lifestyle can have on health. It's also been shown that the exercise capacity of those who spend more than 4 hours of screen time is significantly lower than those who spend less than 2 hours of screen time.

But what about keeping the brain stimulated? The brain is believed to be a social organ, and that engaging the brain creatively can be very beneficial for health. A study by Fratiglioni and colleagues shows that people with rich social networks and who engage in various mental and physical activities are better protected against dementia. A healthy social life is arguably one of the most important things to As well as social engagement, a greater sense of meaning and purpose is also associated with less cognitive decline.

We might want to work on having multiple worlds

I was listening to the Ten Percent Happier podcast featuring Malcolm Gladwell, and he talked about the benefits of having what he called multiple worlds. What he meant by this was the different types of activities you engage in in your life. For example, you might be a teacher (world one) who loves to bake in your spare time (world two) and does a lot of martial arts (world three).

He mentioned a study which revealed that people with multiple worlds were less likely to catch a cold than those who had fewer worlds. I suppose another way to think about it is it's a way to spread your wellbeing eggs into more than one basket.

He also talked about the importance of having a lifelong pursuit, which is aligned with the point above about keeping the brain engaged to avoid cognitive decline. I wasn't able to find the links to these studies, but something I'll keep an eye out for!

So when does it become toxic, if ever?

If you constantly feel the pressure to do something, be it because of what other people are doing, or what you think you should be doing, and worse yet, if you start feeling guilty about not doing anything, then maybe it's time to reflect.

This article discusses how easy it is to confuse toxic productivity with success in today's work culture. Being more busy is often regarded as a good thing — the busier you are, the better. But we all know that these things can come at the expense of your physical or mental health.

We now know that exposure to long-term stress could lead to burnout. This study shows that physicians, who are exposed to high-stress environments such as work overload and sleep deprivation, are likely to experience at least one dimension of burnout.

Now of course I'm not going to compare myself to a physician because we obviously do very different things, and the kind of stress I experience is nowhere near that of a physician's. What this study and many others highlight is that being busy and constantly having something on your plate can lead to an unnecessarily high level of stress, which does no one any favour. Instead, taking a bit of a break can actually become more productive in the long run as it might allow you to actually produce higher-quality output.

What I've been up to

We went to see Jon Hopkins at the Proms last week, and it was absolutely breathtaking! I said this when I saw Mogwai, but I think this was definitely the most beautiful performance I've ever seen in my life. It's amazing how much music can make you feel. Radiolab did a fascinating episode about what sound does to our brains and feelings. One particularly interesting part of the episode observes how mothers across the globe would use similar tones when talking to their babies and perhaps, this was the beginning of music. If you want to check out the episode, here's the link.

This is my first article after a good few months and I'll admit, I'm feeling very rusty. I'm very conscious that this is probably not going to be my best work but I don't really care — I think at this point I'll just feel better if I can get something out there 😅

What's on my radar

Tortoise Media

I've been listening to so much stuff from Tortoise — I forgot how good they were! I did a bit of work for them back in my consulting days, and I used to love their ThinkIns, which were these in-person conversations between a Tortoise representative and an expert in a certain field. But evidently they've been producing many many podcasts and I'm addicted! Here are two of my favourites:

Pig Iron
"A story about the mysterious death – and life – of a young war reporter on the frontline."

Sweet Bobby
"Sweet Bobby is a live, multi-part investigation in search of one of the world’s most sophisticated catfishers. It’s a story about who we are online, and how social media can be weaponised as a tool of abuse and coercion."

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