Redefining Productivity by Focusing on Personal Joy and Work-Life Balance for Business Success

"I do not have any money, but I am rich."

Our host shared these words on our first day in the jungle of Costa Rica as he excitedly searched for the elusive and endangered Scarlet Macaw.

We found them in the mango groves!

The first week of June is special for us, with our wedding anniversary (16 years this year) and Miles's birthday just a few days later (12 years old—time is a thief). We always take a trip during this week to spend these special dates together, disconnected and present. This year was even more special as I finally rediscovered my joy for travel.

Before quarantine, we set a family goal of traveling out of the country once per year. Upon discovering Costa Rica and a few budget hacks, we increased that goal to two trips per year. Adventure and exploration are family values, and we want Miles to grow up with different cultures, people, experiences, and curiosity as his norm. But 2020 threw a wrench in those plans. Travel had become a habit and a joy, but a post-quarantine burnout corporate culture left me zapped of any joy I felt planning a trip. I didn’t have the brain space, time, or energy. Even when we did travel, I couldn’t fully disconnect and be present.

As I reflected on our host's words throughout our trip, I finally realized why it took over a year to rediscover my joy and what alignment and work-life balance really mean. You have two "whys": a personal why (travel, in my case) and a work why (helping others grow). Overtime, habits are formed supporting each why.

I, however, am a productivity junkie and a time filler. When paired with fulfillment in work, in a burnout corporate environment that supported self-sacrifice and overwork, my personal why got overshadowed by my work why and I easily fell into the habit of sacrificing my joy, my personal why of adventuring with my family, to be more "productive." That habit of sacrificing for the sake of productivity had to be eliminated while simultaneously rediscovering the habits surrounding my personal why.

We’ve been taught that productivity is the norm. To get ahead, you have to sacrifice and be producing at all times. Activities that do not yield measurable results are deemed fruitless making it easy to prioritize the work why over your personal why as those personal whys often do not have direct, measurable results.

I see this same phenomenon with my clients, but often they are so far down the path of a work why overwhelming their personal why that they struggle to remember what their personal why is because they too are productivity junkies.

So how do we retrain our brains to prioritize our personal why? My friend Erika, owner of Cherry Lane Art and fellow corporate burnout survivor shared these wise words with me recently:

“There are three foundations that we have been created to seek in life - truth, goodness and beauty.  We chase after truth with books, knowledge, education.  We try to be good, and uphold a moral code, we seek out faith and purpose.  
But, beauty.  It is often neglected and relegated to “unnecessary” or a “waste of time”.  We yearn for art, nature, music, poetry…but our productive society doesn’t deem them as important or a marker of a life well lived.  Beauty is as important as truth and goodness.  It helps us understand ourselves and the world around us.  And I believe it is the key to understanding the character of God who created such a beautiful and intricate world just for us.”

What if we choose to seek beauty and joy in our personal why for no other reason than just understanding ourselves, the people, and the world around us. The more we understand ourselves, the people, and the world around us, the better we can be for those people and the world around us. And isn’t that the key to productivity?

Do Good.