This year, I’ve decided to commit to being effective instead of productive.

You might ask, “Aren’t those the same thing?” The answer is: NO!

According to Dictionary.com, productive is defined as:

“producing abundantly” and effective is defined as “adequate to accomplish a purpose; producing the intended or expected result.”

Productive

Basically, productive refers mainly to the quantity of something, while effective refers to the quality of something. Being productive focuses on how much work you are getting done, while being effective focuses on getting a job done in the most efficient way possible.

In the past, when I’ve focused on being productive, that has meant doing tons of work until I felt burnt out. It meant not giving myself breaks because I felt like if I wasn’t constantly working, I wasn’t having enough output, and therefore wasn’t being productive enough. I would focus on just getting assignments done or just finishing reading something without paying attention to how I was doing it. This is where being effective comes in!

Dialectical Behavior Therapy

As I’ve said in the past, I’m currently doing Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT.) One of the biggest components of DBT is mindfulness, and one of the mindfulness skills is effectiveness. In DBT, being effective is focusing on doing what works without worrying about it fitting into the categories of “right” or “wrong.”

I’ve learned that in the past when I’ve thought I was being productive, I actually wasn’t really getting much done. The majority of what I was accomplishing was exhausting myself and creating tons of stress and anxiety. I would spend hours pushing myself to finish chemistry homework, even if I had no idea what any of the questions meant. I would stare at the words on the screen obsessing over how stupid I felt for not understanding chemistry. I thought by forcing myself to continue doing the homework I was doing the right thing. However, the more effective choice in this situation would have been taking a break, letting myself breathe, and either reviewing my class notes to refresh my memory or texting my boyfriend (who had already taken chemistry) to see if he could help.

Effective

When we make the choice to be effective instead of productive, we are actually able to accomplish more, and, in turn, be happier with ourselves! Being effective is typically much less stressful than trying to be productive, and a lot more rewarding. Focusing on what works will always be better than trying to focus on what may be right or wrong because right and wrong are such subjective terms. What is “right” for you may be “wrong” for me, and vice-versa. By the same token, what is effective for one person may not necessarily be effective for another person. It’s all about finding what works for you, and doing it!

Moving Forward

So, the next time you need to get something done, try to think about being effective instead of trying to be productive. Focus on what works for you, not what you think you should be doing, or what anyone else is doing, and I promise you will feel much more accomplished!