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We’ve all seen the videos: “A Productive Day in My Life”, “My 2 AM Morning Routine”, “A Day in My Life as a 3-Year-Old Billionaire”… We’ve all thought, If I could be as disciplined as motivated as they are, then all my problems would go away. Unfortunately, these attempts to “get your life together” can easily slip into the extremes of hustle culture and toxic productivity. According to the Huffington Post, toxic productivity is “the unhealthy desire to be productive at all times, at all costs. It’s the need to go the ‘extra mile’ at work or at home, even when it’s not expected of you.”
At school, this can manifest itself in fairly obvious ways, like Friday nights spent in front of a computer with Schoology open, pulling all-nighters to write an essay, and sulking over a 95% because it’s not 100%. This desire to be “on” all the time and constantly achieving something is motivated by a fear of failure or feelings of being an impostor, and the fear that someone, somewhere, is always working harder. To IB students struggling to juggle their individual subjects, the Extended Essay, TOK, and CAS, this feeling is all too familiar. Unfortunately, working so hard all the time can result in constant tress and anxiety, a sense of dissatisfaction with your work (after all, you could always have done more) and a risk of burnout. And although you’ve probably been told that you have to find balance between your academic, extracurricular, and personal life, how can this be achieved?
Although programs such as the IB are known for being rigorous, arguably more so than they should be, and the amount of work you receive is often out of your control, these tips may help you to break out of your toxic productivity cycle and find a little bit more enjoyment in life:
Know when you’re most productive, and when you need to rest
If you know that you have the most energy on Saturday mornings, try to get that essay you’ve been struggling to write out of the way then. That way, you won’t be holed up in your room, struggling to get it done in the evening when all you want is to be out with your friends. And when you get back to work on Sunday, you’ll be relieved to know that the tasks you have are at least a little easier.
Fight your fear of failure
Are you a chronic procrastinator? While you might attribute the habit to laziness or poor time management, it’s very likely that you’re a perfectionist. If you’re constantly holding yourself to an impossible standard, any task can begin to seem massive, and you’re so afraid of doing a less-than-stellar job that you just don’t start it. Of course, this leaves you with fewer hours for yourself. When you’re hesitant to begin something, just ask yourself: Is it because I’m afraid of the outcome? If you simply force yourself to jump into it, odds are the task will be much easier than you thought, and you can spend your precious evening on something else.
Accept that not everything will get done
If you still have ten tasks left by the time you reach 10 PM, it’s very possible that your to-do list was unrealistic. As long as you’re meeting deadlines and not falling behind in your classes, acknowledge that you’ll never be as productive and efficient as you want to be. Celebrate what you were able to accomplish instead of lamenting over what you weren’t, and remember that getting sleep is much more important than getting everything done.
It’s OK to say “no”
You don’t have to join a new club at school just because your friend asked you to. You don’t have to organize that extra meeting for your service just because your co-leader thinks it might possibly be helpful, and you don’t have to waste your lunchtime on tasks and homework that you don’t feel like doing. Only you can protect yourself and set these boundaries.
Hopefully, this advice has given you some more concrete ways to create your own work-life balance. Now stop looking at your computer and go take a walk outside!
