I didn’t want to start this post today. I hadn’t shaved yet. And somehow, that felt like a legitimate reason to put it off. You ever have a day like that? Where something as trivial as not shaving becomes your excuse to do absolutely nothing?
But here I am, shaved (mostly), writing this, feeling vaguely productive. Even though, if I’m being honest, I have no idea what “productive” actually means anymore.
Somewhere along the way, productivity became this religion. Like, if you’re not following the sacred rituals—journaling every morning, scheduling every second of your day, sleeping with your mouth taped shut—you’re somehow failing at life.
I call bullshit.
I’ve been a disaster my whole career. I’ve got thousands of unread emails. My desk usually looks like a paper tornado hit it. I don’t have a system, a framework, or even a clear idea of what I’m doing half the time. And yet? I’ve managed to build a pretty good life.
Not because I’m organized. Not because I’ve hacked my mornings or bathed in cold water or whatever. But because I’ve figured out what actually matters to me, and I’ve focused on that. Everything else? It’s just noise.
Take inbox zero, for example. The gurus will tell you it’s the holy grail of productivity. But you know what inbox zero feels like to me? Work for the sake of work. If something’s important, it’ll find its way back to me. I’m not going to waste hours organizing emails I don’t care about just to feel like I’ve “accomplished” something.
And don’t even get me started on color-coded calendars. Look, if that works for you, great. But for me? Structure kills creativity. I need space to follow weird ideas, to jump into things when the inspiration hits. The moment I try to force that into a rigid schedule, I lose the spark.
It’s funny, though, because we’re taught to feel bad about this. Like, if you’re not living up to some imaginary standard of productivity, you’re somehow less worthy. Less successful. Less capable.
But here’s the truth: productivity isn’t about how many boxes you can check off. It’s about getting the right things done. And the “right things” are different for everyone.
My wife is a zero-inbox kind of person. She thrives on finishing everything before bed, making sure no task goes untouched. And it works for her. Meanwhile, I’ll go to sleep with a mountain of unfinished stuff and think, Eh, I’ll get to it tomorrow.
Neither of us is right or wrong. We’re just different. And that’s the thing nobody tells you—there’s no universal formula for productivity.
You’ve got these people selling courses, books, apps—entire empires built around convincing you that their way is the only way. But their way works for them because their livelihood depends on it. If your goal isn’t to be a productivity guru, why are you living by their rules?
It’s like watching fitness influencers and thinking, If I don’t eat like them, I’ll never be in shape. Except their job is to be in shape. They have time, motivation, and financial incentives you don’t. Same with productivity experts. They’re not better than you; they’re just playing a different game.
For me, productivity looks like this: sitting at my cluttered desk, shaving only when I feel like it, and following whatever idea seems most exciting in the moment. It’s messy, sure. But it works.
And honestly? Isn’t that the point?
If you’re getting the important stuff done, does it matter if you’re not doing it “right”? Who cares if you’ve got 5,000 unread emails, a cluttered workspace, or no morning routine? If the job gets done, isn’t that enough?
I think about this a lot. How much of productivity culture is just performative? How much of it is about looking productive rather than being effective?
I don’t know. What I do know is this: the most productive thing you can do is figure out what matters to you and ignore the rest.
For me, that’s getting ideas out of my head and into the world. Writing, making videos, sharing stories. I don’t need a fancy system for that. I just need a little time, a little space, and a willingness to let things be messy.
So, what about you? Are you following all the systems, buying all the apps, chasing someone else’s version of productivity? Or have you figured out your own way of doing things?
If you’re curious, I talked more about this in a video. You can check it out here:
Leave a Reply