Productivity won’t save you (rerun)

Getty

In this episode from December, we look at our obsession with productivity and why the urge to optimize everything we do makes us feel like we're never enough.

Hey y’all, it’s Reema. We’re off this week working on the last episodes of our season. After this pandemic year, as things begin to go back to “normal,” I’ve been thinking a lot about the lessons I learned in this episode. It originally aired in December, but it feels even more relevant and important now. Enjoy, and if you’d like to help us finish out this season by sharing a money secret, check out more info down below.

Sometimes, I think about my future self.

She’s more organized, in better shape. She wakes up early, she’s a great friend and she has really nice hair. I think I’m scared that if I don’t get to everything on all my to-do lists, I might never get to be her. Instead I’ll feel like I’ve wasted my time.

A lot of my friends feel this way, and I know some of you do too. So on this week’s show, we’re going to look at our obsession with productivity — the exhausting effort to be completely optimized in work and outside of it, and why it feels like what we do is never enough.

We’ll talk with neuroscientist Sahar Yousef about what a productivity mindset is doing to our brains. Later, “Can’t Even” author Anne Helen Petersen joins us, and we look back in history to see how millennials reached a burnout breaking point.

Finally: The last episode of the season is all about money secrets. Like maybe your parents still financially help you out, or you blew a lot of money all at once, or you’re hiding credit card statements from your partner. It doesn’t have to be an earth-shattering secret either. Serious or funny, we want to hear about it! Give us a call at 347-RING-TIU (347-746-4848) or fill out the form below.