The Trap of Productivity (And How to Get Out of It)
The Trap of Productivity (And How to Get Out of It)
How Ten Minutes of Quiet Changed My Life
“Carpe diem.” Seize the day. Don’t waste your life.
As a type A person, these were my mottos. I was determined that every moment of my life should count and not be wasted. Yet, these truthful ideas slowly became a gateway to my own trap of productivity.
Hi, I’m Katlyn Browning, and I don’t sit well. Even as a child, I was a go-getter. In seventh grade, when my class read The Hobbit, we were given several options for our final project. I decided to spend an entire weekend building a four-by-three-foot Hobbit hole made completely out of candy. Meanwhile, my friend Sarah forgot about the assignment until the day it was due and wrote a quick poem before class - and somehow received a better grade. I’m still trying not to be bitter about that one, but it perfectly illustrates my nature: I am a “give it all you’ve got” kind of person.
Working hard is a good thing. In fact, it’s encouraged by God. Colossians 3:23a says, “Whatever you do, work heartily.” That mindset comes naturally to me. But like everything else in our lives, our sinful hearts can take good things and twist them into something that no longer pleases God.
After getting married, becoming a pastor’s wife, and having three girls in four years, my responsibilities grew - and I just kept pushing. ‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead’ was the line I tossed around with a laugh, not realizing how much I was actually living by it. I didn’t want to waste a single second of the time God had given me. Sitting down to rest felt like wasting time.
If the kids were occupied, I immediately thought, What can I get done? Laundry, dishes, cleaning, organizing - there was always something. As they grew older and needed me less, I thought I would finally rest. But instead, I found new ways to fill every moment. I began working from home, checking emails, editing videos, or scheduling meetings whenever I had a spare minute.
Even when I wasn’t working, I couldn’t let my mind be still. I filled every quiet moment with podcasts or audiobooks, convincing myself that I was being a good steward of my time. But in reality, I was destroying my attention span and depleting my soul.
Ten Minutes of Torture
After battling a season of mild depression, I knew I needed to make space for things that brought joy back into my life. But for the life of me, I couldn’t think of what those things. I was always so consumed with what I needed to do, I never took the time to think about what I wanted to do. So I decided to do an experiment and part of that was making myself sit in ten mins of quiet a day.
It sounded simple, even pleasant—but for someone addicted to constant input, it was excruciating. At first, I tried to multitask, choosing silence while unloading the dishwasher or driving. But even in a quiet house, my mind raced. I need to send that email. I need to send that text. What time was the game tonight? Did I put that item on the grocery list? I had to fight the urge to grab my phone and start doing it all immediately. I irrationally felt like if I didn’t write it down right then, I would forget to buy milk and THEN WHERE WOULD WE BE?!?
But within just a few weeks, I began to see huge changes.
Rest Is Productive
First of all, I was more patient. I realized that all the input had made me so overstimulated that everything felt urgent. My senses were constantly heightened, so even simple interruptions from my children felt overwhelming. Once I began practicing quiet, those same moments no longer felt like interruptions—because I wasn’t already consumed with something else.
I also discovered a new inner calm. I stopped flitting from one thing to the next with my emotions quickly irrupting. Instead I had began allowing myself to think, to reflect, and to pray. I could process the book I was reading, the conversation I’d had with my husband, or a challenge with one of my children, and bring them before the Lord rather than reacting in haste.
Through these quiet moments, God began restoring my perspective. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.” I began to truly think about that. He is God, not me. He is sovereign, not me. He is the creator and sustainer of my life, not me.
John 15 reminds us, “Apart from Christ, we can do nothing.” Yet I had been living as though I could do everything. I had been relying entirely on my own strength. In stillness, I began to rest in the truth that my life does not begin and end with me. The life of my family does not rest on my shoulders. It rests on His. Truly believing that is incredibly freeing.
A Changed Life
Amazingly, what began as ten minutes of torture has become a source of deep refreshment. I’m still a sucker for a good audiobook, but now I pause before pressing play. I ask myself, Do I need a few minutes of quiet first? Have I been snippy with my family? Am I walking into a situation that might be overwhelming? If so, I choose silence.
This summer, when I drove three hours to pick up my children from camp, I decided to drive in silence. I knew the return trip would be filled with tired, noisy children, so I chose to use the drive there as a time of peace and rest. Hours later, as we drove home, I was thankful for the peace and patience I had stored up in preparation.
A Challenge for You
If any of this resonates with you, I want to offer the same challenge I gave myself: ten minutes of quiet a day.
You may need to step outside your house to make it happen. You may need to resist the urge to fill the silence. You may even forget to buy milk. But I promise, if you commit to stillness, God will meet you there. As hard as it may be to start, you will find it to be a place of refreshment and it will allow you to be more productive than if you just pushed through and saved the peace and quiet for when you are dead. And you’ll realize that peace and quiet aren’t for when you’re dead—it’s how you truly live.