Signs you have productivity anxiety: Therapist explains

From procrastinating to experiencing burnout, here are a few signs of performance anxiety.

Productivity anxiety is the type of anxiety that happens when we feel unfulfilled about our own ways of living. All of us have self-imposed standards of living and ambitions of living in a certain way – when we fail to live the way we want, we start to spiral on the failures and have productivity anxiety. Addressing this, Therapist Carrie Howard shared a few signs of productivity anxiety that can affect us mentally and emotionally. She also shared a few tips by which we can help address productivity anxiety. Here are a few signs by which productivity anxiety shows up:

Signs you have productivity anxiety: Therapist explains(Unsplash)

Difficulty relaxing: Some of us face difficulty in relaxing – we feel disturbed at the thought of taking rest because we feel we should be working harder. The feeling of guilt and shame creeps in whenever we try to rest.

Self-worth tied to performance: We compare our self-worth to the performance we do – hence, we feel unworthy every time we try to relax and take rest.

Staying busy: Sometimes we use the feeling of staying busy to stay away and avoid uncomfortable feelings and emotions that may show up when we try to sit idle and take rest.

Procrastination: Sometimes the real reason behind procrastinating and avoiding taking up certain tasks is the fear of not being good enough to do them.

Burnout: Deep down, productivity anxiety leaves us with burnout, feeling depleted of our resources, and demotivated to get back to work.

Carrie Howard further noted down a few tips to combat productivity anxiety. They are, as follows:

Incorporate affirmations: Understanding that we are enough, independent of the performance we give, is a powerful affirmation to take us throughout the day and make us give our best.

Scheduling rest: We need to make a proper routine which is balanced with equal amounts of time dedicated to work and rest. We should be able to address the thoughts that come to us when we are at leisure.

Explore the reason: Understanding the deep-rooted reasons of trying to stay busy and avoiding certain emotions will help us in getting more clarity about ourselves.