Passion Struck with John R. Miles
Israa Nasir on How to Break Free From Toxic Productivity | EP 533
Thu, 14 Nov 2024
In this enlightening episode of the Passion Struck podcast, host John Miles engages in a deep and insightful conversation with Israa Nasir, a New York City-based psychotherapist, author, and founder of WellGuide. This digital platform is committed to raising mental health awareness, particularly among first- and second-generation immigrants. Israa brings groundbreaking perspectives that challenge the conventional narratives surrounding productivity, self-worth, and success in today's demanding society.Her upcoming book, Toxic Productivity: Reclaim Your Time and Emotional Energy in a World That Always Demands More, serves as an essential guide for those ensnared in the relentless hustle culture. Throughout the episode, John and Israa delve into how societal pressures to constantly achieve can lead to burnout, shame, and a profound disconnection from one’s authentic self.If you've ever found yourself measuring your self-worth against your productivity or to-do list, this episode offers transformative insights. It paves the way for listeners to redefine what productivity means, reclaim their time, and discover sustainable methods to fulfill their emotional needs. Tune in to learn how to shift from a life dominated by "doing" to one that celebrates "being," and embrace a more fulfilling, intentional lifestyle.Full show notes and resources: https://passionstruck.com/israa-nasir-break-free-from-toxic-productivity/Sponsors Babbel: Unlock the power of learning a new language with Babbel's innovative system. Passion Struck listeners can get 60% off their subscription at Babbel.com/PASSION. Hims: Regrow your hair before it's too late! Start your free online visit today at Hims.com/PASSIONSTRUCK. Quince: Experience luxury for less with Quince's premium products at radically low prices. Enjoy free shipping and 365-day returns at Quince.com/PASSION. For more information about our sponsors and promo codes, visit: passionstruck.com/dealsIn this episode, you will learn: Understanding Toxic Productivity: Toxic productivity occurs when our relationship to tasks and outcomes becomes unhealthy, leading to a singular focus on arbitrary goals while neglecting wellness and relationships. Hyper-Optimization: Society glorifies hyper-optimization and busyness, driven by social comparison and the need for belonging, which can lead to feelings of inadequacy and burnout. The Importance of Prioritization: Not everything matters equally; applying the Pareto principle (80-20 rule) helps identify which tasks yield the most significant outcomes, allowing for better focus on value-aligned activities. Binary Thinking: Binary thinking traps individuals in a mindset where success or failure is viewed as absolute, ignoring the nuances and complexities of personal growth and achievement. Perfectionism and Comparison: Perfectionism often coexists with the comparison trap, where individuals feel pressured to meet unrealistic standards set by themselves or society, leading to anxiety and toxic productivity. Self-Compassion: Embracing self-compassion and being present can help individuals break free from the cycle of toxic productivity, allowing for a healthier relationship with work and personal fulfillment. Connect with Israa Nasir: https://www.israanasir.com/Order Passion StruckUnlock the principles that will transform your life! Order my book, Passion Struck: Twelve Powerful Principles to Unlock Your Purpose and Ignite Your Most Intentional Life. 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Chapter 1: What is toxic productivity?
So everything is not important. I think that's the thing I really want people to realize is every single thing is not important. And prioritizing your tasks, prioritizing your obligations, prioritizing the things you say yes to, all of that is really important so that you can actually
really pour in to the things that are value aligned, that will give you a return that makes your life more meaningful. Because if you are putting energy into everything equally, everything is not putting itself back into you equally. An example I'll use is some people really define themselves by the role they play in their relationships.
And this can really tap into the productivity mindset where you're like, I have to be the best friend, parent, partner, coworker, like all of those things, right? And
the truth is like every relationship is not going to give back to you in the same way so knowing who to invest the time and energy in and who to have better boundaries with is so important and we can't do that if we don't prioritize things and there are a lot of techniques we can use to prioritize i personally use the eisenhower matrix
which is like a little quadrant and it tells you what's important, urgent, what can be delegated to somebody else and what you can just take off your list. But there's a lot of other ways you can prioritize as well. It can be as simple as like an actual rank order to-do list.
Yeah, I use that same quadrant as well. And sometimes I forget if it was Eisenhower or Stephen Covey who first coined it, but I think you're right that it was Eisenhower. So what you were talking about also relates to how we view success or failure. And you write about these two aspects as being very binary aspects.
When we think about how we want to pursue the things that matter for us in our life, we often do so in this binary manner. How do you think that binary thinking manifests into this toxic problem? Because I think it happens in our relationships, obviously in our careers, but in other areas.
So binary thinking, it's like a cognitive thinking trap, right? It's like a way that we get stuck. And I think in cognitive behavior therapy, it's called black and white thinking. Well, whatever phrase you want to use, binary thinking has no space for nuance. it's very clear. Things either are one way or they are the other way, right? And very few things in life are that clear.
But in the toxic productivity mindset, if we think about achievement as binary, right? So you might think if I didn't get the promotion, that I'm a failure, that I'm not a good worker, I am not good at my job. So the binary mindset is promotion or you suck at your job. But the truth is you might not get the promotion.
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Chapter 2: How does toxic productivity manifest in daily life?
Chapter 3: What are the signs of burnout from toxic productivity?
Maybe you could talk more about Sarah's story and how if a listener is finding themselves in a similar place, what steps that they could take to potentially break through from this feeling that you have to say yes and you can't say no.
So, I mean, there's two things that can happen in a workplace, right? And we need to be mindful of both things. One is there is a certain level of pressure and expectation that can't come from a workplace that does not allow you to say no, right? So that is one track of what can occur. The other track is we think that we can't say no.
We assume that we can't say no, or we actually don't know how to say no, right? And that's what's going on with Sarah is that she did have the ability and she had the, I guess, like the freedom to not take on more work, but she was doing it to herself. And the reason that can happen is that we have a lot of fears around saying no.
And that really is something that kickstarts this toxic productivity cycle is we feel like we can't say no and or we don't know how to say no. It's too uncomfortable. It comes from a place of fear of being rejected, abandoned, seen as not competent enough, especially in the workplace. And so because we can't tolerate that discomfort, we just say yes.
And we choose to tolerate the discomfort of being overworked. So instead of choosing the discomfort of disappointing somebody or just like the discomfort of saying no yourself, you'd rather choose the discomfort of overworking and tiring yourself out. And I think that in a lot of workplaces, this is also really valued. You get a lot of reward for it.
So it's hard to see it as a quote unquote bad thing. However, if you are somebody who, while listening to this, you're like, oh, wait, I wonder if this is me. I would say two things. I would say first is try to think about all of the things that you have said yes to, right?
Every single thing, every extra thing that you said yes to at work, and then try to correlate it directly to some kind of deliverable or metric of success that you actually have at work. chances are, if you're overworked, everything you've said yes to does not directly connect to your personal metric of success or deliverable in your role.
And I think it's important to remember that it's good to have some out-of-role deliverables as well. But try to do this analysis to see how much of the work that you're doing actually is not going back towards your deliverables. So Is it actually giving you the return that you're looking for if it's not improving your metric of success, professional success, right? That's one thing you can do.
Another thing you can do is to talk to somebody that you live with and ask them how they view your relationship with work. Because a lot of times we have these blinders on, we're so outcome driven, and And we don't really see the things that we're sacrificing, the things that we're flaking on, you know, how is it impacting other people? Because we're so laser focused on our own success.
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Chapter 4: How can we break free from the cycle of toxic productivity?
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You can find links to everything we discussed today, including Isra's book, Toxic Productivity, in the show notes at passionstruck.com. Videos of this episode are also available on YouTube. And don't forget to check out our sponsors and exclusive deals at passionstruck.com slash deals. Supporting those who support the show allows us to keep bringing you these incredible episodes.
And before we wrap up, I want to remind you that beyond hosting the podcast, I love bringing these insights to life through speaking engagements with organizations and teams. If today's conversation sparks something in you and you think my message can inspire your company or community, head over to johnrmiles.com slash speaking to learn more.
Let's work together to create intentional change and ignite growth. Now, for next week's episode, I am incredibly excited to welcome Glenn Phillips, singer, songwriter, and frontman of the iconic band Toad the Wet Sprocket. We'll be diving deep into his creative process, the evolution of his music, and how he's used songwriting as a tool for personal healing and connection.
It's going to be a conversation filled with heart, creativity, and inspiration. You won't want to miss it.
It's such a difficult process to, even with our own reactions, be able to slow down enough to wonder, to be curious about where we're being rational and where we are rationalizing.
and where we're being emotional and especially in places and my ex-wife actually my first wife told me to years ago to examine very closely places where i feel righteous indignation and that the places the people who make me the most angry the things that make me feel the most keenly aggravated are places where i probably need to look at myself first.
And that practice has helped me a lot in compassion to people in difficult situations and to see where I'm getting angry at something that I'm actually really mad at myself for not being better at.
And as always, the fee for the show is simple. If you found value in today's episode, share it with someone who could benefit from it. And remember, apply what you've learned so that you can live what you listen. Until next time, live life passion-struck.
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