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10 Signs You’re a Productivity Junkie

Article by Zen Habits contributor Jonathan Mead, follow him on twitter.

Increasing your productivity can be a great thing. It can free up more time for leisurely activities like laying on the beach, barbecuing and watching movies. It can give you more time for the things you love. More time for family, friends and pursuing your passions.

But there’s a point where you can take productivity too far. It can become more of a hobby than a means to an end. Just like a little too much self-help can hurt rather than help (too much thinking, not enough doing), obsession with efficiency can distract you from what really matters.

If you’ve ever found that you spend more time organizing and making lists, than you actually do getting things done, you might have a problem.

Here are 10 signs you may be a productivity junkie:

You wish you could create a keyboard shortcut for eat/sleep. Productivity has become more of a priority than enjoying meals and proper sleep. You end up looking for ways to minimize eating time (like juicing everything) or pursuing polyphasic sleep.
You spend significant amounts of time comparing GTD systems with other life “hackers.” You like to browse pictures like this and this, on Flickr.
Your kid tells you she skinned her knee and you say “what’s the next action?“
Improperly filing tasks on your color-coded to-do list is cause for serious disappointment. It has the potential to ruin your week.
Conversations with friends are broken up by you jotting notes to yourself. People ask you if you’re writing a book and you reply “I just don’t want to forget any of this.”
Keyboard shortcuts, Firefox extensions, and being a “power searcher” on Google cause you more arousal than watching a sex scene in a movie.
You refer to drinking beer out of a coffee mug as “hacking” that mug. Some other forms of hacking include: turning a sweatshirt in to a skirt and using an iron to make grilled cheese.
Sex with your spouse in on your someday/maybe list.
Your music is sorted not by artist or album, but by the length of each song.
You get things done, only to make more time to get more things done. The biggest sign you’ve become a productivity junkie is when you’ve lost site of the purpose for being productive… to have more free time.

By the way, aside from all this productivity bashing, there are some great blogs on meaningful productivity. Just a few are Productive Flourishing, Tools For Thought, Fluent Self, and The Art of Non-Conformity.

So what do you think? Can productivity be taken a little too far?

(PS: Thanks Leo for helping me come up with some of these)

This article was written by Zen Habits contributor Jonathan Mead of Illuminated Mind. For more ways to avoid producitivitis, grab a subscription to Illuminated MInd.

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If you liked this article, please share it on del.icio.us, StumbleUpon or Digg. I’d appreciate it. :)

10 Signs You’re a Productivity Junkie

Article by Zen Habits contributor Jonathan Mead, follow him on twitter.

If you’ve ever found that you spend more time organizing and making lists, than you actually do getting things done, you might have a problem.

Here are 10 signs you may be a productivity junkie:

You wish you could create a keyboard shortcut for eat/sleep. Productivity has become more of a priority than enjoying meals and proper sleep. You end up looking for ways to minimize eating time (like juicing everything) or pursuing polyphasic sleep.
You spend significant amounts of time comparing GTD systems with other life “hackers.” You like to browse pictures like this and this, on Flickr.
Your kid tells you she skinned her knee and you say “what’s the next action?“
Improperly filing tasks on your color-coded to-do list is cause for serious disappointment. It has the potential to ruin your week.
Conversations with friends are broken up by you jotting notes to yourself. People ask you if you’re writing a book and you reply “I just don’t want to forget any of this.”
Keyboard shortcuts, Firefox extensions, and being a “power searcher” on Google cause you more arousal than watching a sex scene in a movie.
You refer to drinking beer out of a coffee mug as “hacking” that mug. Some other forms of hacking include: turning a sweatshirt in to a skirt and using an iron to make grilled cheese.
Sex with your spouse in on your someday/maybe list.
Your music is sorted not by artist or album, but by the length of each song.
You get things done, only to make more time to get more things done. The biggest sign you’ve become a productivity junkie is when you’ve lost site of the purpose for being productive… to have more free time.

So what do you think? Can productivity be taken a little too far?

(PS: Thanks Leo for helping me come up with some of these)

Posted on 3 December 2008 in Productivity & Organization |
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Comments (70)

Success Professor - Danny Gamache Says:

December 3rd, 2008, 21:01 pm

Certainly you can be too productive. The point of productivity is so that you achieve your goals - AND ENJOY them and the process.

Sometimes I fall into the trap of point #10. I disagree that the point of being more productivity is only to have more time. In some cases it might be to take on more things. For example, you may be able to contribute more, give more etc. It should free up more time to do what is important. The key is defining what is important.

Success Professor - Danny Gamache Says:

December 3rd, 2008, 21:02 pm

Change my first line above.
Not “too productive”, it should be “too focused on productivity”.

Trevor Says:

December 3rd, 2008, 21:04 pm

Based on this, i’m a productivity junkie.

Tabitha (From Single to Married) Says:

December 3rd, 2008, 21:06 pm

Some of those are pretty funny. But yes, in answer to your question, productivity can be taken too far. Especially when your desire to be productive interferes with your daily work satisfaction or with the relationships you have with others.

Mary@GoodlifeZen.com Says:

December 3rd, 2008, 21:12 pm

Love your article, Jonathan!

I think you are right: there is a fine line between enough focus on productivity and too much.

One of the things I suffer from is that when I plan my day from a productivity point of view, I lose flexibility. So, when m partner says to me, “Hey ,Mary - do you want to go for a walk in the sun?” I struggle to with an enthusiastic “Great!” Because I’m thinking: “Blast - there goes my productivity plan!”

I use a simple trick to get out of that stuck frame of mind: I take one breath, paying tender regard to my complete in- and out-breath.

After that I’m more capable of letting go of productivity and embracing joy instead.

pinoycontests Says:

December 3rd, 2008, 21:19 pm

This is hilarious! Thanks for the burst of sunshine-y humor. It totally made my day. Now back to being productive… ;-P

nka Says:

December 3rd, 2008, 21:21 pm

I needed a laugh. Good thing for #7: “You refer to drinking beer out of a coffee mug as “hacking” that mug.”

Fit Bottomed Girl Says:

December 3rd, 2008, 21:30 pm

LOL. That was awesome. Number 10 is so me. It’s very similar to me only checking off things on my list to create new ones.

Heather Says:

December 3rd, 2008, 21:43 pm

Too funny!

John Says:

December 3rd, 2008, 22:06 pm

I’m not joking, I do have some of my iTunes playlists sorted by time. :-O

Stacie Says:

December 3rd, 2008, 22:12 pm

Seriously, the need to do more and more, and achieve something MORE like perfection is an addictive obsession! And, inherently frustrating because it targets the one thing we’re looking for : self-esteem - but we deny ourselves even that success by always having more to add to The List. And, round the wheel goes with the rat chasing its own tail.

I do believe that we have truly lost touch with what’s important for us as human beings, while we’ve been running around frantically trying to impress others with how “busy” we are.

Recently a study was done that found people are more wealthy these days, but definitely less happy, as they no longer have the time to sustain human relationships - which is what we all enjoy and crave.

Jeff@MySuperChargedLife Says:

December 3rd, 2008, 22:28 pm

Funny stuff! I worry about those that relate to #6 and #8.

We will never get it all done. I have to keep reminding myself of this daily. It is great to be organized, but we can be counterproductive and miss out on a lot that life has to offer if we take it too far.

We all need things like this to make us mindful of what’s really important especially during this busy season.

DrBurst Says:

December 3rd, 2008, 22:41 pm

Wait, would turning down girls who wanted to date my only because I wanted to remain productive bad based on number 8… well, my computer is very hacked, mawhahahahahahahaha

kathy Says:

December 3rd, 2008, 22:50 pm

Jonathan
Productivity, like many other things can become a cult and rather that using it to live our best life, it is easy for it to become an obsession. This is a wonderful, witty list that reminds us not to take ourselves too seriously. I can relate to # 7, only it’s wine rather than beer…

orlund Says:

December 3rd, 2008, 22:54 pm

Yikes a lot of that sounds like me. I guess it’s time to get a life. Hey who knows I might get more done that way :)

Mike King Says:

December 3rd, 2008, 23:58 pm

Very humorous list Jonathan. Quite scary though and I hope most of those are purely for a laugh and not real. I guess my closest one is #10, I sometimes get more done just to do more. I guess as long as that doing more is stuff I want to do, that is free time then isn’t it? I don’t really have any free time if I look at it that way.

shann Vander Leek Says:

December 4th, 2008, 0:08 am

Thanks for the giggle Jonathan.

#5 and #10 resonate with me on occasion.

I like to balance being and doing as much as possible to stay healthy and happy. My pita energy likes to take over a lot which can only be balanced out with a luscious cat nap.

Duff Says:

December 4th, 2008, 0:10 am

Dude, I’m totally going to go hack a cup of peppermint tea. Hack a beer? That’s so web 1.0.

But yea, meta-productivity can become seriously masturbatory.

Kris Barrett Says:

December 4th, 2008, 0:26 am

Great post, it made me laugh. I am always trying to be more productive, but it never crossed my mind that you can be TOO productive. Thanks.

thomas george Says:

December 4th, 2008, 0:26 am

Thanks for the laugh :) ! Good post.

#1,#2,#5 and #6 are too close for comfort.I think I am taking this much too seriously,maybe I need to bring it down a notch or two.

Bryan Says:

December 4th, 2008, 0:48 am

11. When washing your hands you turn on the water, for a second to wet 1 hand, then put soap in the other hand to lather, because 1 day you found out that you don’t need to wet both hands!

12. You drink after you’ve finished your meal, because 1 day you figured out that it takes longer to eat and drink at the same time!

13. You’ve learned to type 120 words per minute while having to look at the keyboard while yout type!

14. Your flush the toilet, right before your wash your hands, so that you can wash your hands while the toilet is flushing at the same time!

15. You put a nightlight in your bathroom, so that you don’t even need to turn on the lights when you go in!

Nate Says:

December 4th, 2008, 1:02 am

John, this is a great post. Funny funny. We could all use more humor in our day :)

-Nate

Jonathan Mead Says:

December 4th, 2008, 1:03 am

Bryan, you sound like you know a little too much about this. =)

J.D. Meier Says:

December 4th, 2008, 2:13 am

I like your selective bolding …

… a ruined week, bad sleeping/eating patterns, and a need to do more stuff.

… kind of paints a bad picture.

Corkee Says:

December 4th, 2008, 3:00 am

Very cute article..gotta retweet this one! Loved the one about the kids skinned knee! I am just adapting GTD into my life and I can now see me doing that. Sad…in a funny sort of way. :)

Andrew R Says:

December 4th, 2008, 3:01 am

Very true! I like to write things down because I tend to have great ideas only to forget them at the first sign of a shiny object (ADHD), but sometimes I’ll just take it too the next level and when I come back to read it, I think to myself “Time for a walk crazy guy!”

Thanks for the post!

All the Best,

Andrew R

Vincent Says:

December 4th, 2008, 3:18 am

Hey Jonathan,

I had a good laugh out of this post, especially point number 8. You mentioned that a little too much self help doesn’t do us any good and I totally agree with that. Too much thinking and not doing totally defeat the purpose of self help.

Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger

LifeMadeGreat | Juliet Says:

December 4th, 2008, 3:35 am

Too true chuckle, chuckle.
For a while I’ve been trying not to be SO incredibly productive (and organised). And, guess what, it’s given me time to RELAX and ENJOY more. And (miraculously) I still get as much done.
Juliet

Usman Says:

December 4th, 2008, 3:45 am

That was hilarious. But I think there was a lot of seriousness in their as well!!

Eugene (Editor, Varsity Blah) Says:

December 4th, 2008, 3:56 am

I’m guessing the fact I haven’t heard of a lot of these terms (power searcher?) is a good thing. The idea of “hacking” your way through life seems to imply there’s something wrong or limiting with the way it is and that we need to somehow fix it. That doesn’t seem right.

Valeria | TimelessLessons Says:

December 4th, 2008, 4:05 am

This too seems to run rampant in my blood…guilt for lack of productivity…the rush of trying to make up for all I haven’t accomplished if I am doing something “not quite” as important as the other things on my massive to-do list.

Thank you for your post Jonathan.

Hugo Says:

December 4th, 2008, 5:13 am

While reading the title I was quite sure I would fall into the category ‘productivity junkie’, but I’m glad to find out I’m not really.

I do like to try out new productivity tools though, and write about them on my blog!

Chris (from Lifestyle Project) Says:

December 4th, 2008, 5:31 am

Nice one. The first step is admitting you are a junkie!

You are so right that we need to focus on productivity to free up time, rather than have more time to do more..ahem…next actions.

Help is at hand with this 12 Step Programme to beat your productivity addiction

Next action…go to the beach….with my coffee cup ;)

Martin Wildam Says:

December 4th, 2008, 6:38 am

I started life hacking because I was working even on weekends (even my wife) and we wanted to have a little more family life and even we wanted a baby.

So I had to create space for the family needs and I started improving my work/habits to gain time for family.

Before I did most of new research in my spare time which now somehow must be integrated in the normal working day. As you can imagine the boss anyway liked it more as it was before because despite the improvements there can’t be wonders. ;-)

Yes, productivity can be taken too far - but often it is not only ourselves - there are often high expectations and pressure from outside that (want to) drive you into getting more and more productive - sure - with the idea to achieve more with less people…

Joel Falconer Says:

December 4th, 2008, 8:36 am

Oh, you mean these things aren’t normal? I suppose the hardest part is realizing you have a problem… ;)

Jokes aside, I thought it worth pointing out that the motivation for being more productive is not always to have more free time. Especially for people in a self-employed situation, it’s often about getting billable work done faster in order to boost the potential capacity of the bottom line.

Jeff MacDonald Says:

December 4th, 2008, 8:50 am

PHEW! I’m not the only one!

Nicolas Soergel Says:

December 4th, 2008, 8:54 am

This is really funny. You can try to stop the addiction or turn in into something productive. I guess that many of these bloggers who write on that topic actually productivity junkies. The blog allows to hide it.

I have been thinking about productivity a lot and my healing came by blogging about and collection more than 200 concrete time saving tips on the Time Management Master blog.

http://memytime.wordpress.com/

Lee Ann/Living Introverted Says:

December 4th, 2008, 9:52 am

This is pretty funny, but I was disturbed to find that #5 applies to me! I do this all the time - it’s probably pretty irritating to others (sigh).

Polina Arbuzova Says:

December 4th, 2008, 10:05 am

I dont understand all of this words)) I from Russia, I learn Eng in the school… But! I like this author=) It very interesting to read ..! And I go in this site to learn Eng too)))))) ( Sorry if I did some mistakes)

Ian Says:

December 4th, 2008, 10:55 am

Here’s another sign: you skipped over this waste-of-space post in your RSS reader.

Neil Says:

December 4th, 2008, 11:06 am

Well I’m not a productivity junkie, but I did have a good laugh reading the list!

Corinne Brueckner Says:

December 4th, 2008, 11:09 am

So, is being a self professed productivity junkie a bad thing >_> ?

I just hate sitting still. I feel like I am waisting away if I am not working at top speed all the time. I do understand that it can cause burn-outs, but I feel depressed when I feel unaccomplished or not in control. Methinks I have deeper issues!

Thanks for yet another great zen post.

Tess The Bold Life Says:

December 4th, 2008, 11:10 am

I find this amusing because I am a “wanna be” productivity junkie. It’s just not how my mind works! Is there hope for me?

Maria | Never the Same River Twice Says:

December 4th, 2008, 11:19 am

I never really thought about how productivity can be taken too far until I read a post on a popular self-improvement forum (not Zen Habits) about how relationships are bad because they lead to lower productivity.

I thought to myself, “Self, there are some seriously f*d up people in the world.” And then I realized that GTD, like any other religion, can be taken waaayy too far.

P.S. “8. Sex with your spouse in on your someday/maybe list.” You don’t have to be a GTD disciple to have that problem :O

Jor Says:

December 4th, 2008, 11:56 am

#10+: you try to write a script and set up a keyboard shurtcut for every single stupid thing even when you’re probably not going to use it more than twice. You end up using a lot more time to write the script than to do the thing the normal way.

After more than a decade of hacking my life I’m finally back to the simplicity. I find the compulsive need to hack everything a form of procrastination. You feel so productive with all those gadgets but you actually do less.

Yellowstone Shane Says:

December 4th, 2008, 13:41 pm

That is way too funny!

But seriously. I think I might be a little too productivity oriented at times and it does make sense to take this into perspective.

For example right now I have my full-time career, go to college online full time, work a freelance programming job on the site, run my web site and then I have a family.

My family is getting put on the backburner for all of my other projects, and that was really the point of getting more productive for me. To spend more time with the people that I love.

Scott Says:

December 4th, 2008, 13:46 pm

Number three made me chuckle.

Number eight is the reason “Get Married” is not on my “Someday / Maybe” list.

Christine Says:

December 4th, 2008, 13:47 pm

Thankfully it looks like I’m not a productivity junkie based on this list, iTunes is an unorganized mess on my PC!

Salutis Says:

December 4th, 2008, 13:49 pm

This is really funny blogpost. :)

QiHui Says:

December 4th, 2008, 15:44 pm

hah.. very interesting and so funny!! especially that flickr ‘gtd’ picture…

Edwin Crozier Says:

December 4th, 2008, 16:10 pm

I appreciate the reminder to keep balance even in being productive. However, I’m not sure I agree the point behind productivity is to have free time. That seems rather selfish to me. The point behind productivity is to produce. Hopefully to produce something of benefit for others and the community.

Darla Says:

December 4th, 2008, 16:20 pm

The first step is to admit that you have a problem.

I laughed again at some of the comments where people had to ask if it was okay to have the problem. If you have to ask if it’s okay to be addicted to productivity, then NO, it’s not okay! Get help. Just kidding. :-)

sd Says:

December 4th, 2008, 17:30 pm

Very funny! In other words be careful not to hack/f..c yourself.

Star Straf Says:

December 4th, 2008, 17:37 pm

Dang it - #2 kept me distracted for over an hour

dr aletta Says:

December 4th, 2008, 19:32 pm

As Dimitri Martin said: LQTM

Chinese proverb paraphrased: If you want to produce much, slow down.

DanGTD Says:

December 5th, 2008, 2:23 am

The #10 sums it all.

The biggest sign you’ve become a productivity junkie is when you’ve lost site of the purpose for being productive… to have more free time.

FrugalNYC Says:

December 5th, 2008, 2:35 am

Check, check, check, uh…oh wait, we’re not supposed to check this off our todo list?

This was a great list, and a good reminder to take a break. David Allen reminds us to use the high level view first….perhaps I shall stop my comment here ;)

Mads Nygaard Pedersen Says:

December 5th, 2008, 18:46 pm

anybody found that shortcut yet…?

cohnsey Says:

December 5th, 2008, 20:46 pm

I definitely can relate to #7

greatmanagement Says:

December 6th, 2008, 3:05 am

Really great, funny list!

Yes, I do wish for number 1 and some of the others are a bit close for comfort too.

Andrew

MizFit Says:

December 6th, 2008, 7:49 am

I thought I TOTALLY WAS (especially the taking notes during conversations part) but number eight? I dont do that one.

why put off until tomorrow what I can do today?

ManZine Says:

December 6th, 2008, 14:38 pm

lmao! Sounds like me alright!

Rob Robinson Says:

December 7th, 2008, 0:28 am

Great list. I saw myself in several of those. Thanks for the gentle reminder that productivity isn’t an end in itself.

Angela Erisman Says:

December 7th, 2008, 19:45 pm

I find it ironic that your suggestion at the end of an article about overdoing it on productivity consists of MORE productivity blogs to read.

Personally, I pick two and only TWO productivity blog sites to read (this being one of them) at a time. Allows me to get great tips, but keeps me me from wasting too much time reading productivity sites.

Takumi86 Says:

December 8th, 2008, 11:51 am

This could be a great advice and alert for the people who always thought they couldn’t done something much better, Nice!!

pril Says:

December 8th, 2008, 17:15 pm

it would be safe to say GUILTY on the last one!
dude that has been my issue from the start!

thanks Leo you just helped me!

my point of doing a todo list was to add more to it!
WTF was i think
it is to free up time maybe i;ll work that in my 2009 plan

Herbal Remedies Girl Says:

December 8th, 2008, 17:50 pm

What a wonderful post! Number 10 is sooooo true for me :)

Mike Says:

December 9th, 2008, 12:25 pm

Great Post

Wisdom Talks Says:

December 11th, 2008, 8:39 am

It happens so often that we leave our tasks on final stages and start a new task. so we never get free time, as our tasks never finished.

Recently, i imposed on my employees to not to start new project unless last one is finished. Its looking tough for now, as it felt like we will loose clients. But i am sure, in the long run, it will generate better results.