I think it can be helpful to also rethink what being productive really means. To say that a certain behavior is productive presupposes that we already know what constitutes a desirable or undesirable outcome. This works well when we're tackling problems with known solutions, and whose outcomes are fairly predictable: if I answer this email then I'll keep my team happy, or if I agree to join another meeting then I'll be seen as a team player. But what if we don't know what a good outcome should look like? What if the odds of failure far outweigh the odds of success? If my book draft is only accepted on the 10th submission, were the previous 9 attempts "unproductive" despite the learning and experience that made the final success possible? If I set aside time to catch up with my family only to end up enduring through awkward conversations, have I spent my time "unproductively" even though such conversations actually give me the chance to work through unresolved conflicts and misunderstandings? New behaviors are by definition exploratory, so we need to readjust our definition of productivity accordingly to also celebrate learning, experimentation, and even failures as valuable outcomes. This is something that I still have to relearn again and again every time I try something new.
I think it can be helpful to also rethink what being productive really means. To say that a certain behavior is productive presupposes that we already know what constitutes a desirable or undesirable outcome. This works well when we're tackling problems with known solutions, and whose outcomes are fairly predictable: if I answer this email then I'll keep my team happy, or if I agree to join another meeting then I'll be seen as a team player. But what if we don't know what a good outcome should look like? What if the odds of failure far outweigh the odds of success? If my book draft is only accepted on the 10th submission, were the previous 9 attempts "unproductive" despite the learning and experience that made the final success possible? If I set aside time to catch up with my family only to end up enduring through awkward conversations, have I spent my time "unproductively" even though such conversations actually give me the chance to work through unresolved conflicts and misunderstandings? New behaviors are by definition exploratory, so we need to readjust our definition of productivity accordingly to also celebrate learning, experimentation, and even failures as valuable outcomes. This is something that I still have to relearn again and again every time I try something new.