Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Productivity Vs. Alignment

Productivity.  I have mixed feelings about that word.  As a Capricorn through and through, I really love checklists and planners.  Seriously, I could write an entire post about the freakin' brilliant planner system I use.  Yes.  It's a planner system.  No joke.  I love organizing and spreading out my "to-do list."  I love the feeling of accomplishment when I get all of those items checked off my list...  But I also recognize that there's an ugly side to productivity.  Like a thief in the night, productivity robs us of our impulsivity, our joyful adventure, and very simply, our free time. We risk running on empty, and we all know what happens when the gas tank hits empty, don't we?  That's right.  We burn out and find ourselves incapable of the very productivity we so valued in the first place.

So, perhaps we need to reconsider the value we place on productivity, and how we define it in the first place.  I mean, does everything have to be a level 10 in terms of importance and urgency?  When looking at the list of things to do on any given day, how important are they?  Is it possible that one or more of them don't actually have to be done that day?  I know you really "should" do it, but what if it couldn't happen until tomorrow?  Would anything even happen?  For many of the items on your list, the answer is "No."  Literally, nothing would happen.

How much of your typical day has been filled with things you felt you "should" do versus that which you feel inspired to do? If you stop and take stock, how many of your tasks or activities felt inspired?  We spend our lives wishing time away, begging Friday to come because if we're lucky, we might, just might find a tiny sliver of time on the weekend to do something we truly want to do.  And then the weekend comes, and we realize all of the things we "should do" in order to make our week flow more easily.  Now, I'm not suggesting that we stop doing laundry or grocery shopping, but I am suggesting we reconsider valuing productivity over alignment.

Being in alignment with our higher selves is what puts us on not only the path to abundance but also to the lives we truly want to live.  What is the point in attracting financial abundance into our lives if not to aid us in living them to the fullest?  I recognize that I "should" be offering you an idea about what to do with your money, but rather, I suspect the idea that needs to be offered has more to do with your alignment.  Perhaps it's a critical step on the path to a more abundant life (both financially and in terms of fulfillment) that we really place more value on doing that which fills us up and makes us feel both aligned and inspired.  From this aligned and inspired place, we become magnetic, attracting the energy to be productive, the ideas to be successful, and the words to build relationships and communicate effectively.

So, this past weekend, I had a list of "shoulds" on my plate, as I always do.  Then I realized there was a festival in the park near a friend's place.  That friend is also moving soon for a job opportunity. I am so happy for her success, but admittedly feeling a sense of loss over the shifting of the logistical functioning of our relationship.  I really found myself wanting to enjoy the festival, and some time with her.  So, I abandoned my "shoulds" and did exactly that.  Now, this is the part where I tell you that as a result, my week was a complete disaster, right?  Actually, not at all.  I had to figure out when in the week laundry could get done, and ate sandwiches for lunch rather than something more thoughtfully prepared, but that was pretty much the size of it.  My life didn't fall apart, and I got something that I really needed in order to proceed in life with a greater sense of alignment.

I realize that this is an area I, personally, need to work on.  I need to gently release my grip on the reins of productivity and trust that all of the things that need to be done, will, in fact, be done.  I am making it a goal to give myself permission to pursue that which feels aligned rather than that which I feel obligated to do.  I would encourage you to try the same.

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