The Clock That We Invented Against Ourselves
Why is it that when at work, we feel the burden of time more intimately? Those minutes to a lunch break and train home feel more precious than gold.
It's something I really have wrestled with. Then, I learn I was loosing against myself. Because I start each day with a mountain of tasks, and no matter how much I get done, it never feels like enough.
Does this sound like you?
This hustle creates productivity debt. This is the feeling that we start each day owing a significant amount of work, which we must pay off by day’s end.
It’s a cycle that many of us, knowingly or unknowingly, find ourselves trapped in.
Productivity debt, though not a widely recognized term, is a modern problem. Subtle, but universal. Currently, there is no unified definition, so here is my attempt.
Productivity debt is the accumulated burden of time and energy spent on tasks driven by pursuing efficiency and productivity. Often, this comes at the cost of personal well-being and long-term effectiveness due to the illusion of an end goal.
Productivity debt mirrors the concept of financial debt. Just as financial debt arises from borrowing money that must eventually be repaid with interest, productivity debt accrues when we borrow time and energy from our future selves. This happens through the relentless pursuit of completing tasks, optimizing workflows, and maintaining the facade of constant busyness.
Yup, I said “facade of constant busyness.”
Oliver Burkeman aptly describes this phenomenon as a “bottomless pit of self-imposed expected efficiency.” He likens it to starting each day in a state of deficit, scrambling to break even by the day’s end. Modern tools and societal pressures that glorify busyness and undervalue rest exacerbate this feeling.
Consider the compulsion to clear your inbox to zero or the drive to improve your productivity metrics. These actions, though possibly productive, often lead us to burn personal time and burn well-being. We invest in productivity apps, create extensive to-do lists, and seek hacks to optimize every minute of our day. While these efforts may offer short-term wins, most will lose in the long term.
We kind of forget about the moment.
Productivity debt doesn’t appear out of nowhere. It results from various factors that constantly pressure us to be busy and efficient.
One major cause is the constant pressure to boost productivity metrics. Honestly, it is addicting to get those metrics up. Often, these metrics don’t even align with real, tangible outcomes. Whether it’s emails, Slack messages, or project management updates, the push to respond instantly and keep everything in order creates a never-ending cycle of busyness. Striving to maintain a zero-inbox or clear every notification drives us to prioritize quantity over quality, turning our focus away from what truly matters.
Another significant factor is society’s glorification of busyness. We live in a world that equates being busy with being successful. There may be some truth to that, but at what cost? This mindset pushes us to cram our schedules with work-related tasks, often without considering their actual value or impact. The result? A packed day that leaves little room for reflection, creativity, or rest.
Moreover, the perception of productivity plays the puppetter role. It’s crucial to remember that productivity is often just “a perception, not reality.” Many of us fall into the trap of trying to accomplish as much as possible in the shortest amount of time. Daily. This relentless pursuit of efficiency can feel rewarding in the short term, but it often leads to burnout.
Or worse, apathy.
Lastly, there’s the internal pressure we place on ourselves. We often believe that we must “earn” our rest or personal time by completing all tasks on our list. This mindset can lead to feelings of guilt if we fail to check off every item. Over time, this self-imposed expectation creates a significant emotional and psychological burden, contributing to the overall productivity debt.
And you will not pay it off by being more productive.
It gets worse.
Take me for example. I often create detailed to-do lists, believing that I earn my keep by checking off every item. This leads me to prioritize work over my well-being. I would stay late, skip meals, and sacrifice sleep to ensure that I completed all my tasks.
Tasks that I made myself do.
I’ve stayed in the Operations Cell late, trying to get training plans done to impress my Officer In Command. I took on extra jobs, not because I enjoyed them, but because I wanted to look busy. Hell, I even carried a notebook to create the illusion of doing work.
The consequence? Burnout, apathy, and a growing resentment towards work. The endless pursuit of productivity made work a beast I could never conquer, leaving me feeling perpetually indebted to my own unrealistic standards.
And I failed to ever feel productive enough.
Physically, productivity debt often manifests as poor health. By borrowing time from personal care, individuals neglect essential activities like eating well, exercising, and just being happy.
Mentally, the overcommitment to productivity creates a state of constant stress. This leads to a never-ending cycle of stress. Moreover, productivity debt fosters a false economy. To save time, we often choose short-term, expedient solutions. These quick fixes may provide immediate relief but usually require additional time and effort to address properly later on. This results in a repetitive cycle of patching up problems, which adds to the overall debt.
At the very centre of this problem is the paradox of productive debt.
The more busy one is, the more in productivity debt they are.
This paradox is cruel, yet elegant. I obsess over emptying the inboxes, attending meetings, and ticking off tasks, only to find my to-do lists never-ending. The more I strive to do, the more there is to be done. This ceaseless busyness provides the illusion of productivity while diluting focus and effectiveness. I am so good at multitasking but fail to achieve meaningful progress.
This vicious cycle reveals the dark side of the productivity obsession.
It’s as if I need to justify my existence, by staying “on top of things”, in order to stave off some ill-defined catastrophe that might otherwise come crashing down.
Balancing productivity debt while still getting things done requires us to rethink the obsession with constant activity. The relentless ticking of “the clock that man invented” traps us in a cycle of endless deadlines and tasks, convincing us that more is always better.
This artificial construct has become a tyrant, dictating our lives and pushing us towards burnout. True productivity isn’t about cramming as much as possible into our day; it’s about prioritizing what genuinely matters and recognizing the value of rest.
To escape this debt, we need to stop paying it.
How do we balance productivity and self-care? Honestly, I’m not entirely sure. But I really hope we find a way.
By doing so, we reclaim our time and well-being from the oppressive march of the clock we made.
