This post is so helpful! My writing group and I continually have this conversation about our relationship to work and productivity! I’m totally going to introduce them to “sneaky productivity”--such a useful term!
It’s really important to connect different kinds of addiction. This is a beautiful post -- so personal yet well researched.
I definitely am susceptible to workaholism. Not living in America anymore helped a bit; I just found the environment so competitive -- you were a better person, it seemed, if you had done a bunch of work on the weekend. (I have found it with other American colleagues abroad, too.) But of course, you can simply disengage with that culture if you choose! Becoming an independent writer/researcher has given me bouts of this again. Like you describe, it can be hard to keep boundaries. I try using work timers and setting the limit when I pick up my son, but it’s still not easy. Even if we enjoy the work, we have to step away. And maybe it’s about how we value ourselves. FOur Thousand Weeks by Burkeman really helps me consider that time dynamic. Thanks for this really useful post :)
This is really interesting! I'm definitely susceptible to this way of working too - I think with teaching type jobs you always feel you could be doing more for people and it's hard to stop sometimes. I also wonder if part of it is wanting to control something, when the world is messy and confusing I know that I can work through this stack of essays from students or create this or that document and get a tanglible, finished 'thing'. Does that make sense?! That little dopamine hit of 'achievement' is so hard to resist soem days! Such an interesting subject. Will check out the links you shared too. Congratulations of 10 years of sobriety too - an incredible milestone! Hope the chicken fingers hit the spot. ✨
I always thought that the reason I liked working when others weren't around was because I had less distractions. I think this is true but maybe it may also be a form of sneaky productivity 🤔
This post is so helpful! My writing group and I continually have this conversation about our relationship to work and productivity! I’m totally going to introduce them to “sneaky productivity”--such a useful term!
Congrats on 10 years sober!!
It’s really important to connect different kinds of addiction. This is a beautiful post -- so personal yet well researched.
I definitely am susceptible to workaholism. Not living in America anymore helped a bit; I just found the environment so competitive -- you were a better person, it seemed, if you had done a bunch of work on the weekend. (I have found it with other American colleagues abroad, too.) But of course, you can simply disengage with that culture if you choose! Becoming an independent writer/researcher has given me bouts of this again. Like you describe, it can be hard to keep boundaries. I try using work timers and setting the limit when I pick up my son, but it’s still not easy. Even if we enjoy the work, we have to step away. And maybe it’s about how we value ourselves. FOur Thousand Weeks by Burkeman really helps me consider that time dynamic. Thanks for this really useful post :)
Well done on your 10 years sober-anniversary! Thank you for sharing that, and for this reminder about workaholism.
This is really interesting! I'm definitely susceptible to this way of working too - I think with teaching type jobs you always feel you could be doing more for people and it's hard to stop sometimes. I also wonder if part of it is wanting to control something, when the world is messy and confusing I know that I can work through this stack of essays from students or create this or that document and get a tanglible, finished 'thing'. Does that make sense?! That little dopamine hit of 'achievement' is so hard to resist soem days! Such an interesting subject. Will check out the links you shared too. Congratulations of 10 years of sobriety too - an incredible milestone! Hope the chicken fingers hit the spot. ✨
I always thought that the reason I liked working when others weren't around was because I had less distractions. I think this is true but maybe it may also be a form of sneaky productivity 🤔