How can I be more productive?

The question betrays the fact that we take non-productiveness as something that is fundamental to us. It’s almost as if we have to put in a lot of effort to become productive. But this shouldn’t be the case. We need to understand that, being energetic, spontaneous, cheerful and happy is our default state. Productivity is a natural occurrence when we begin to enjoy what we do. And the need to enjoy ourselves is something fundamental to us.

Look at children. You needn’t tell them to be energetic, happy, cheerful and enthusiastic. They are that, naturally. Only when they have a specific concern – they are hurt, hungry or tired – do they digress from that default state. The minute, you feed the child, the tantrums subside. We are quite similar. We are naturally and helplessly energetic. But due to certain factors, we deviate from this natural state. So what are those factors?

The way we feel. Our emotions play a very important role in our lives. More than we would like to think so. Our emotions, determine the state of our inner world. Uncomfortable emotions – intense yearning, sorrow, and anguish all disturb the natural equilibrium that exists within us. Most of us, escape these emotions. As sensitive introverts, we begin to think about these emotions. This leads to worry, regret and anxiety. As dynamic extroverts, we begin to avoid these emotions by getting into activities – parties, work, movies, social media apps – and so on. Both, try to escape from dealing with the emotion directly.

In order to deal with the emotion. One sits with it and gives permission to fully feel it. This allowing of the difficult emotion to exist within us, without wanting to get rid of it, opens a new dimension within us. The attitude of acceptance. When we can accept and tolerate difficult emotions within us, their intensity dims. They might still linger, but we gain the ability to tolerate them, without the need to escape them. What this does, is it prevents us from wasting our time overthinking or escaping into meaningless external activities. We begin to do what we want to do and what needs to be done. Our minds, our emotions and our actions align into one harmonious whole. This is when we gain access to an infinite energy source within us. This is the source of all productivity.