5 Signs Youre a Total Productivity Addict

5 Signs Youre a Total Productivity Addict Addiction to productivityis a real thing? its ?similiar to a dependence on a substance or food that leads to maladaptive behavior. Clinically speaking,addictionoccurs when someone is engagingin something thats pleasurable, but the continued use or act becomes compulsive to the point of interfering with normal life responsibilities (work, relationships or health). To make matters worse, an addictmay leid be awarethat his or her behavior is out of control.If you think youre sliding into an addiction to productivity (i.e. youre becoming a workaholic), here are a few questions to ask yourselfAre you acutely aware of when you are wasting time? Do you beat yourself up for it?Are you reliant on technology to optimize your time management?Is your 1 topic of conversation how crazy busy you are? Do you think hustling sounds impressive, while doing less sounds lazy?Are you a slave to your email inbox? Compulsively checking it or feeling like your phone is an extension of your arm?Do you feel guilty when you only cross one item off your to-do list or find youre keptawake at night by work stress?Have you ever rolled your eyes when your friend says shell finallyget started on that side project shes been talking about for months, yet you do exactly the same and rationalize it by thinking youre too swamped?Recognizing your preoccupation with productivity is the first step in refreshing your approach to it. If you answered yes to any of the questions above, thats a good gauge that youd do well to take your foot off the gas in your quest for powerhouse status.But what to do next? herbeies a few suggestions to get you started.1. Rewire Negative Self TalkYouve got work to get done? ?of course you shouldnt go out tonight Sound familiar? How about Youre not making this time useful??thats why you havent been promoted yet. The next time your inner critic slams you for not being good enough or working hard enough, talk back. Dont let any thou ghts run through your brain that you wouldnt say out loud to your best friend. This attitude change will improve your life.2. Say NoStop stuffing your to-do list out of guilt or a desire to please. Say no toany new responsibility that doesnt benefit your professional or personal growth or that you truly dont have time for.3. Stop Talking Big Game and Actually Take ActionIts one thing to indulge in listicle after listicle of productivity tips or talk about the ambitious plans you have for your business, but at the end of the day, taking action is what counts. This also means resisting the urge to complain (or brag) about how slammed you are, no matter if its over Bloody Marys at brunch or in 140 characters on Twitter. Being productive in a healthy way means not needing validation for it.4. Accept Downtime as Recharging TimeAlthough you may feel like youre wasting time if youre not scratching something off your to-do list, the opposite is often true. Your mostmeaningful ideasmay come in that one moment when youre not distracted or triaging emails. Let your brain relax to refuel your attention and focus.The Happiness Project authorGretchen Rubin, in evaluating how to form healthy habits in her life made a commitment to never look at her smartphone whenever shes walking somewhere in buchung to let herself free-think. Try it Here are other fun and affordable self-care activities you can try in your downtime, too.5. Embrace Just in Time LearningMaximizing your productivity often leads to unproductive multi-tasking. Instead, zero in and do one thing at a time. Consumeonly the information you need to accomplish the task at hand, which is known as just in time learning. This approach encourages you to collect information only as you need it, rather than hoarding it and trying to learn a huge variety of things in-depth. If youre working on launching your side hustle, that might mean focusing solely on learning sales skills to get your first paying client rather than div ing into learning how to code an entire website and marketing funnel from scratch. There will come a time for that. But its not right now.Of course, enjoying the feeling of being productive is not inherently shameful. Theres so much pressure all around us??on billboards, in movies, in ourFacebook feeds, in overheard conversations at the gym ? to turbo-charge our lives. We always have to be doingmore, striving formore, offeringmore and doing it all faster. We feel like if were not up to snuff, then well fall behind and never be able to catch up.But what is it all for in the end?Dont lose sight of the truly important things in life. Relish peaceful moments in your day from thesmell of a freshly brewed mug of coffeeto the warm sunlight that shines on your morning commute. As I liketo say, dont put off your life for work that can be done tomorrow.--Melody Wilding is a coach and licensed social worker who helpsambitiousexecutives and entrepenerusmaster the psychology of success. Her clie nts include managers at top companies like Google and HP, media personalities, and startup founders. She also teaches Human Behavior at Hunter College in NYC. Learn more aboutworking with Melody and grab afree course on Overcoming Imposter Syndrome atmelodywilding.com.A version of this article first appeared in Forbes.