I Didn't Do The Thing Today: On letting go of productivity guilt

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Author Madeleine Fire talks about a lot of the "productivity hacks" people have embraced in the push to always be doing more, taking on more, and gives a lot of great reasons why it might be time to let those go and find rhythms and paces that work for us and allow us to build a full life instead of just a busy one.

She tried so hard to take her personal and generalize it but the intensely personal would have been more useful and interesting.Madeleine regularly conducts life experiments and hosts events to explore how creativity isn’t just something we do, but how we approach our lives. Additionally (and this is probably nitpicking), the word "infallible" was used incorrectly a few times in the book when I believe she meant to talk about the fallibility of humans, and that was confusing. A remarkable combination: part broadside against our culture of frenetic busyness, part consolation for the days when things don’t go to plan, it’s also the best kind of productivity manual, filled with guidance for actually getting around to more of the things that matter. Even on days where we get a lot done, the thing left undone can leave us feeling guilty, anxious, or disappointed.

This is a series of chapters which contain both wise advice, kind words and a realistic recognition of the struggles we all face. It’s perfect for people like me, who are a little too driven, slightly OCD, and have some Catholic guilt! At first, I thought it was me, I thought when I got out of quarantine I would enjoy reading it again, but nope, by the end I was skipping each chapter as soon as it became the exact same thing the previous chapter had been.There's the work thing, the catch-up thing, the laundry thing, the creative thing, the exercise thing, the family thing, the thing we don't want to do, the thing we've been putting off (despite it being the most important thing). This has long been a topic I've felt strongly about- ask my husband how many times I've ranted about how toxic I feel this culture of busyness is- and I felt like I found a lot in here to apply to my life. This thing is 3x as long as it needs to be, and a solid quarter of it seems to be quotes and explenations of quotes.

Beyond being thought-provoking and well-organized, it gets bonus points for not making up a new word every page (like most self-help books) and instead relying on well-established terms. So many of these let go and let breathe pieces of advice are just kept in the abstract when what would also be useful is “here’s how you set the boundary even if you haven’t done it before start now…” glad I borrowed it from the library. There’s the work thing, the catch-up thing, the laundry thing, the creative thing, the exercise thing, the family thing, the thing we don’t want to do, and the thing we’ve been putting off, despite it being the most important thing. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. That said, I do think there is value in the kindness facet of this book, and in the facet that discusses being a better person to oneself.and i'll have to say i'm baffled by some of the harsh reviews - it seems like there's frustration about the incorporation of quotes and pulling together other information - the desire for listicles and shortform over a book? i appreciated how dore made sure not to belabor these examples and just touched on them as practical strategies instead. Hi I’m Steph, and each week I share the three big ideas from the best non-fiction books I’ve been reading.

Whether it’s romance, friendships, career paths, or new interests, we never saw most of the things that give our lives meaning coming. As others have noted, it's not particularly groundbreaking, but there are some noteworthy takeaways from it, if you can slog through all of the quotes. It’s a spin on the “Eat the Frog” method popularized by author Brian Tracy, which suggests doing our most dreaded task first to get it out of the way.There’s nothing inherently wrong with being productive—we all need to get things done—but when we conflate productivity with self-worth, we never measure up.