Toxic Productivity

Do you know about Toxic Productivity?

Would you be able to recognise it?

Despite the name is Toxic Productivity a bad thing?

WHAT IS TOXIC PRODUCTIVITY

Toxic Productivity can be described in a several ways:

• The uncontrollable need to feel productive at all times, whatever the cost
• Workaholic behaviours that exclude any time for rest / relaxation/ life, etc.

One symptom is people taking on too many projects and becoming over whelmed.

Another symptom is a feeling of guilt during “Free time”, often accompanied by being anxious when taking a rest.

A further symptom is working long hours, missing breaks by working through them.

It is often a self imposed drive to keep working in the belief that it delivers more productivity. Of course, if it is more work with no more pay (aka Cost) then a surface level calculation of productivity would look better. The reality is that productivity is probably dropping. More work is being performed but due to tiredness and stress, it could be completed less efficiently with potentially more errors.

WHAT ARE THE CAUSES?

There can be many different causes of such as:

• Self imposed expectations that are beyond those required for the role.
• Competitive co-workers who work excessive hours.
• A lack of boundaries between work and non-work time, which can more easily occur with remote home working.

The Productivity of a business is not helped and is not sustainable if it relies on people who are suffering from Toxic Productivity.

There can be a cycle of working long hours, staff becoming tired and under stress, which leads to more errors that generate more work as a consequence, resulting in more work to rectify the issues.

HOW TO OVERCOME TOXIC PRODUCTIVITY

How can you overcome Toxic Productivity?

• Set clear boundaries between work and non-work time.
• Build appropriate breaks into the schedule.
• Learn to practice professional detachment, not everything is personal.

One way to improve productivity without risking Toxic Productivity is with the use of automation.

Automation takes work away from people. It enables work to be performed consistently and removes any human errors. By reducing the staff workload, they can focussed on more complex tasks that are less repetitive.

By educating staff about efficiency, they can understand why it is important to work effectively and not work more hours. The phrase “Work Smarter Not Harder” is often quoted as part of the education.

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Please see Productivity FAQ page for details on some of the terms / jargon used above.