Are you a to-do list girlie who adds even more tasks after you’ve completed your list for the day? Do you have your schedule time-blocked on Google Calendar? Do you reorganize your Notion homepage, budget planner, or lecture notes to avoid doing real work? If you answered yes to any of the questions above, you may be facing toxic productivity.
This quarter, I’ve been facing the dilemma that I don’t enjoy anything that I do. The only two things that bring me joy are cooking, cleaning, and going to the gym. I do recognize that these are very healthy, you might even say productive, things to enjoy, but that, my friends, is my issue.
I procrastinate by doing more work. I can’t even sit and watch an episode of a TV show because of the antsy feeling of guilt that I have work to do. I’ve lost all interest in shows, hobbies, and passions. All that I’m left with is work.
This sounds like the sad tech bro whose entire life is his job, and I hate that. Of course, this stems from my work hard, play hard motto, but my days are polar opposites. I’ll go between having a two-day bender where I lose all motivation and feeling like I hate everything but cooking and the gym.
Recently, I’ve realized that it’s not entirely my fault that I have a bottomless pit of guilt eating away at my hobbies, it’s the pressure to be a good little capitalist worker who makes money for large corporations (and the quarter system, but let’s not talk about that).
From dissecting my true motivation to love the gym and cooking, I’ve realized that these are big-time “wasters” where I can listen to music, watch a show, and catch up with friends. When I’m working out or cooking, I have a friend, a roommate, or a content creator join me while I’m waiting for my food. These built-in “breaks,” which are still productive at their core, allow me to work until I sleep, but my breaking point will hit soon if I continue on this path.
How can we as college students on the quarter system stop creating our never-ending to-do lists? Well, I’m still trying to figure that one out. However, here’s what I propose we do in the last couple of weeks of this quarter which will only get crazier and more hectic.
Establish a Lights Out
No, I don’t mean actually going to sleep. Establish a time when you feel like you should close your laptop and wind down for the day. Try not to Tiktok scroll for hours on end before this though and actually get some work done. Hopefully, we’ll actually end up being more productive because of our set log-off time.
Plan Something Fun Everyday
Having something to look forward to each day can make you more motivated and thus efficient. Maybe it’s rock climbing or petting the cats at Sol (a personal favorite of mine whenever I hang out with my friends who live there). Whatever it is, find small joys and plan them into your day.
Allow Curiosity
This can look like several things. Last night, I was scrolling through TikTok to find recipes that I can make. Maybe you want to check out the MochiNut with your friends. Whatever it is, allow for a little bit of leeway in your busy busy day to explore something new.
I’ll admit I have none of this figured out, but hey, at least I’m trying to stop my incessant hamster wheel run that UC Davis and corporate America have put me on.