Take Advantage of your UnProductive Days!
As you probably know already, I'm fascinated by productivity. It does not sound so exciting when put this way. Let me rephrase it: I'm keen on producing quality work in less time. This fascination has led me to a path of exploration, interviewing productivity experts, reading a considerable number of productivity books, and most importantly, leading a productive life.
Still, I have unproductive days, at least once a week. It's the first time I ever wrote something similar... And it does not feel good to admit my failing productivity attempts. But well, it's the truth. And as the author of "Bird by Bird", Anne Lamott puts it, “Good writing is about telling the truth". Not sure this would classify as "good writing", but at least you have the truth.
Before explaining why I believe some unproductive days are a blessing, it helps to clarify my definition of "unproductive days". They typically follow 2 criteria:
Not accomplishing any planned priority for the day;
Feeling unproductive.
The reason why I mention the criteria is to clarify the difference between non-working days and unproductive days. Non-working days are not necessarily unproductive if I decided not to work. On the contrary, they are productive if I had set up not to work and followed the plan. They are unproductive when I set the intention to produce work but don't do it.
The interesting thing about my unproductive days is the clarity and perspective they bring for future working-days. They make me question the things I've been doing, the reasons for doing so and most importantly, force me to think more strategically about my work and personal life.
During the unproductive days, I decided to start an email newsletter, spend more time outside to improve my well-being, question some of the assumptions making me unhappy, improve the way I manage my time, and refocus the attention on my work, and so on.
It's interesting how my perception of what is productive and unproductive has been shifting in recent months. What previously seemed like a wasted afternoon of diffuse attention can now be the stepping stone for a new idea or the progress of an existing project. This is to say that some unproductive days lead to a refreshing perspective on some old problems.
Sometimes a less positive day is a necessary evil for better things to follow.