I Didn't Do the Thing Today: Letting Go of Productivity Guilt

by Madeleine Dore

The English word perfect comes from the Latin verb perficio, which means “to finish, complete, carry out, or achieve.” When we pursue perfection in our days and in ourselves, we’re creating an impossible standard. We’ve taken what’s incomplete as proof there is something wrong with us, when in fact being imperfect is an inevitable part of being human. We blame ourselves for not being exactly where we think we should be. We berate ourselves for inactivity. We shrink in our self-comparison to others. We doubt our decisions. We become so stifled by the pressure of being productive that we sometimes don’t do anything at all. Rather than making us better, this “doing obsession” leaves us feeling overwhelmed, burned out, dissatisfied, inadequate, and alone. When others wear what they do as a badge of honor—talking in terms of busyness, of having a packed schedule, of accolades and accomplishments—we feel inadequate by comparison, yet under pressure to do the same. Doing, doing, doing, all just to keep up, to prove we are worthwhile—yet we never quite feel that we get there. In the swirl of it all, it’s difficult to see that we’re being set up to fail. We’re told to work hard in a society that undervalues our labor. We’re being told to self-optimize in a culture that also tells us we’ll never be enough. Instead, we need to buy, pursue, or do this thing if we’re to have any hope of reaching contentment—all the while, we’re chasing a shadow. If we aren’t benefiting from our overwor...