Toxic Productivity: When Getting Things Done Becomes Self-Harm

In our achievement-obsessed culture, productivity has become the ultimate badge of honor. We celebrate busy schedules, applaud endless hustle, and equate self-worth with output. But what happens when the very drive to be productive becomes a form of self-harm? In the latest episode of The Pursuit of Happywell podcast, hosts Kristin and Scott Voss dive deep into the dark side of productivity culture and reveal how our obsession with "getting things done" might actually be destroying our wellbeing.

What Is Toxic Productivity?

While productivity itself is neutral—even beneficial—toxic productivity represents a dangerous distortion of this natural human drive. As Kristin explains in the episode, "Toxic productivity is a form of self-harm. We very rarely know we're actually self-harming when we're in it because it feels productive. We're getting stuff done."

The key distinction lies in sustainability and motivation. Healthy productivity stems from genuine purpose and maintains balance with rest and restoration. Toxic productivity, however, is "productivity that has gone beyond your margins and your capacity and moved you into a place where you are borrowing from resources you don't have and potentially causing self-harm."

This manifests as:

• Working beyond your physical and emotional capacity

• Feeling guilty whenever you're not producing something

• Using busyness to avoid uncomfortable feelings or thoughts

• Equating your self-worth with your output

• Experiencing anxiety or panic when forced to be still

The Cultural Reinforcement of Harmful Hustle

One of the most insidious aspects of toxic productivity is how thoroughly our culture reinforces it. Social media feeds overflow with "rise and grind" messaging, while society celebrates those who sacrifice everything for achievement. As Scott notes in the episode, this creates a perfect storm where "the things that are most unhealthy about ourselves or the ways we are soothing our internal chaos is we're praised for how we soothe it."

Kristin's personal experience illustrates this perfectly: "Who's gonna knock me for what I'm producing in the world? If anything, I was getting praised and validation and pats on the back and money would come in, like all this positive reinforcement to stay busy."

This external validation makes toxic productivity particularly difficult to recognize and address. When the world applauds your self-destructive patterns, why would you change them?

The Hidden Psychology Behind Constant Motion

Beneath the surface of toxic productivity often lies a complex web of psychological drivers. For many, constant busyness serves as what Kristin calls "a socially acceptable costume for anxiety." It's a way to outrun uncomfortable feelings, maintain control, or prove worthiness.

Kristin shares her own revelation: "I handle when I feel stress, unease, uncertainty, anxiety, I go into motion. I move very quickly... If I'm making things happen, then things aren't left up to chance. And that feels terrifying to me."

This hypervigilance—living in a constant state of stress hormones as if being chased by a bear—makes stillness feel dangerous. Your nervous system, flooded with adrenaline and cortisol, interprets rest as vulnerability. As Kristin explains, "Are you gonna stop and smell the roses if a bear is chasing you? No."

The Internal Voice That Never Stops

Perhaps one of the most relatable aspects of Kristin's story is her description of the internal monologue that activates the moment she tries to rest: "The moment I would sit down to rest, like, but I could be doing this, but I could be doing this. I even had... this inner critic that would be like, well, Scott's seeing you here, sitting down, reading. What other stuff in the house could be done."

This internal pressure is so intense that she had to actively work with her partner to create safety around rest: "There was a season where I had to tell you like, hey, if you see me relaxing, can you tell me good job? Can you tell me like, can you tell me it's safe here?"

Why Stillness Feels Unsafe

The resistance to stillness isn't character weakness—it's often a nervous system response developed over years of conditioning. When someone has programmed themselves to self-soothe through busyness, their body interprets rest as a threat.

This is why the journey toward healthy productivity requires what Kristin calls "psychological safety." She explains: "You actually have to learn to establish psychological safety with stillness, and that is something if you're like, 'I'm actually genuinely terrified of what might come up for me in my stillness,' I would invite you, that is, you wanna bring an expert into that."

The Violence of Hurry vs. The Medicine of Stillness

Drawing from John Mark Comer's powerful concept in "The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry," Scott highlights how "hurry is a violence to your soul." But here's the paradox: for those trapped in toxic productivity cycles, stillness can initially feel equally violent.

The solution lies in understanding that "stillness is medicine to the soul"—even when it feels uncomfortable at first. Like any medicine, the healing properties of rest may not feel pleasant initially, but they're essential for restoration.

Learning from Nature's Wisdom

One of the most beautiful insights from the episode comes from observing natural rhythms. As Kristin points out, "If you're to look at nature, there are seasons in nature. Winter is a stillness. It is necessary."

Scott expands on this with a perfect metaphor: "If a tree did not drop its leaves in winter, it would have to bear more weight, more snow would get caught on its branches and... those branches would break."

The tree's seasonal shedding isn't failure or laziness—it's survival wisdom. Similarly, our need for rest and renewal isn't weakness; it's how we maintain our capacity to weather life's storms.

Redefining Production Capacity

Drawing from Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," Scott introduces the concept of protecting our "production capacity" through the analogy of the golden goose. Toxic productivity is like cutting open the goose to get all the eggs at once—you might get short-term output, but you destroy your capacity for sustainable production.

Instead, Covey suggests focusing on what enhances production capacity:

• Rest and renewal: Adequate sleep, recovery time, and mental breaks

• Relationships: Meaningful connections that provide support and perspective

• Personal growth: Learning and development that expands your capabilities

As Scott explains, "What we need to focus on... is an equilibrium, a balance... How do we protect and care for the production capacity of the goose, of ourselves?"

From Human Doing to Human Being

Perhaps the most profound shift required is moving from seeing ourselves as machines to honoring ourselves as humans with souls that need care. As Kristin observes, "We've treated ourselves and turned ourselves into machines... So many people turn off their humanity in their pursuit of metrics that are killing them."

The antidote lies in embracing what many have expressed in the simple phrase: "You're not a human doing, you're a human being."

Practical Steps Toward Healthier Productivity

The episode offers several concrete strategies for breaking free from toxic productivity patterns:

Start Micro-Small

If an hour of rest feels terrifying, start with three seconds. Kristin shares her experience with her son: "I said, Kayden, have you ever taken a moment to just like put your face in the sun and hear the birds?... Just, it doesn't take long, just three seconds."

Schedule Rest Like Medicine

Build intentional buffers into your calendar. As Kristin learned, "I need you to at least put a 15 to 30 minute buffer between these meetings just for me to breathe, eat, see to my human needs."

Practice Morning Screen Boundaries

Scott suggests "no screens" in the mornings as "an intentional reset before all the input." This prevents immediately flooding your system with stimulation that can trigger productivity anxiety.

Take Regular Movement Breaks

Research shows that 15-minute breaks every hour—not for productivity, but for restoration—actually increase both output and wellbeing.

This Week's Happywell Homework: The Stillness Challenge

The hosts challenge listeners to commit to one hour of stillness this week—no phone, no input, no metrics to achieve. As Scott clarifies, "What you're doing is being still. What you're doing is resting. What you're doing is restoring... taking your fragmented self and making it whole again."

For those who find even this daunting, they suggest starting smaller—30 minutes, 20 minutes, even 15 minutes. The key is removing input and releasing any expectation of output.

New Metrics for a Well-Lived Life

Ultimately, breaking free from toxic productivity requires adopting entirely new metrics for success. As Scott beautifully states, "You don't have a well-lived life based upon how much you get done, but based upon the depth that you live."

This shift from quantity to quality, from doing to being, from external validation to internal peace, represents a fundamental rewiring of how we measure a life well-lived.

The Journey Toward Wholeness

Kristin's honest reflection captures the ongoing nature of this transformation: "I wish it was a switch, I really do... When you've lived by metrics for so long... the rewiring it takes to be safe with a different set of metrics is work I never knew I had to sign up for."

But this work—the sacred work of reclaiming your humanity from the machine of productivity—is perhaps the most important investment you can make. As the hosts remind us, "Your sacred and beautiful work" lies not in what you produce, but in who you become when you learn to honor both your capacity and your need for rest.

For more insights on building a fulfilling career and life, join The Pursuit of Happywell Community on Facebook or visit LiveHappywell.com.

Listen to the full episode of The Pursuit of Happywell podcast, "Dream or Drain? The Rise of the Intrapreneur," wherever you get your podcasts.

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About Your Hosts

Scott and Kristen built a $20+ million business before realizing that traditional success metrics weren't telling the whole story. They've coached thousands through both business and life transformations, learning firsthand that the path to fulfillment isn't what social media portrays. Based in Colorado with their two kids and two dogs, they bring authentic conversations about what actually creates a well-lived life in today's complex world.

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