Our obsession with efficiency

“If I could only get more done in less time, I would have more time to do the things I want.”

How often have you said these words? How often have you looked for apps and methods and courses to help you increase productivity? How often have you lamented the hours working when you could have been spending time with friends or family?

Being productive is a worthy goal; we should all aspire to do good, concentrates work. What we shouldn’t do is obsess over cramming more work into every waking moment to try to “buy” time.

We fetishize quantity. How much? How fast? What’s the hourly ROI? But what about quality?

Sure, we all want to do good work but how often do we meditate on that work? How often do we dismantle our own process to examine how effective the working pieces are? Or are we too quick to buy a new app or scheduling software to squeeze one more meeting in.

Mindfulness can make our work better. By being truly present we can block out the past and the future and really experience the task at hand. No multi-tasking, no side projects, no scrolling through social media; pure, unadulterated concentration. Pride in our work. Pride in the process. Pride in the present.

If we can learn to be present in the moment we no longer feel the need to rush to the next one. No more FOMO. No more regret. Just living. For now.