5 Ways to Balance Health and Productivity

By Maryam Abdul-Kareem

You're probably here because you're looking for tips and tricks on improving productivity without burning out. Though chances are, you're already burnt out. Regardless, you've come to the right place.

TLDR: Productivity should be a balance of care and intention. It should energize and nurture the process of moving towards your desired goal(s). Your goals can be active, restful, easy, or challenging. Connect and align with what nurtures your body and soul, allowing that to drive how you navigate the world. 

Let's start with some basic definitions. Many of us think of productivity through the lens of commodification and capitalism. We ask ourselves, how can we produce value and sell it? How can others consume that value? This relationship with productivity devoid of soulful, mental, and emotional well-being drives our hearts, minds, and bodies beyond capacity and into a breakdown, aka burnout!

Here is your invitation to reframe: Productivity doesn't necessarily require you to produce a commodity. What if productivity looked different based on the values you hold and the choices you make? 

Dr. Mona Masood, DO, writes,

Being productive can be rigorous, but it can also be slow, restful, and reflective. 

Productivity, at its core, should support the nurturing of people who are content and at peace with their choices. Choices that bring a feeling of achievement and inspire us to do our best, big or small. Especially small, as Adrienne Marie Browne teaches in Emergent Strategy; "Everything big is made up of small." Small, consistent actions are crucial to progress and, more importantly, being whole and healthy people.

PAUSE: Winter teaches us the wisdom of going dormant, resting, and restoring as a necessary act of living. Are you rested enough to be and exist in peace?

ALIGN/REFLECT: Take time to feel and learn where you are aligned. Intentionally plan to put yourself in places that feel aligned with the journey you'd like to travel. What are your values? How are you embodying them?

ENERGIZE: Place your energy in intentional spaces that fill you as a human, connect you to others, and speak to your purpose. We have many energy sources: spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, social, and environmental. Make sure to consider how you are nurturing your entire self.

MOVE/ACTION. In your season of action, how are you turning that energy into the meaningful and abundant action you desire? Action that is rooted in care. Take time to learn. Act and reflect on your journey of growth and the ways you've moved through challenges. Know when and where vigor is needed.

GRATITUDE: Gratitude for the imperfect ways you move on your journey is vital for good health and sustaining energy toward your goals. Reflect on how you regularly show gratitude to yourself and others. Gratitude can look like practices of care, softness, and grounding; this can also look like experiencing joy and deeply connecting with others. Finally, this can be holding yourself in compassion and accountability for showing up, developing boundaries, and nurturing connection and purpose.

Resources:

Burnout by Amelia Nagoski and Emily Nagoski

Nap Ministry by ​Tricia Hersey