Toxic productivity update

Coming on three years ago, I wrote about toxic productivity. Among my pithy comments were the following nuggets:

“I am retired. I live in the country near a lake and the weather is lovely. I could be going for a walk, reading a book or paddling my canoe. I could be sitting on the dock of the bay, wasting time. But no, here I am posting about toxic productivity. Ironic, isn’t it?

Something deep inside my tortured soul drives me to be productive. Not to be healthy (or I would be taking that walk or doing some yoga). Not to be wealthy (or I would be doing something that I can be paid for). And not to be wise (or I would be reading a book or taking a course.) But to be productive. Always productive.”

Recently, I participated in an online seminar out of the U.K. organized by Victoria Barker and Charlotte Neser, who consult about retirement under the name “Beyond Your Career.”  As is typically the case, the guest speaker was incredibly accomplished and has transitioned his career in a marvellous way, doing meaningful work and remaining professionally active into his 70s on a less than full-time basis. His story was impressive.

After the call, I was struck with the thought that although I am perfectly happy with my retirement, maybe I should feel badly about myself because other people seem to be doing retirement better than I am.

And that is the illness that I am pretty sure that I picked up practising law. Someone was always doing more of something: billing, bringing in clients, writing articles, giving seminars or winning awards. There was always something else that I could have and should have been doing more of.

It is not like I do nothing in my retirement. I write. I teach. I mentor. I travel. It is a pretty good gig. It should be enough, especially since I designed this new life myself and am pretty much doing it on my own terms. You would think that the compulsion to do more would be gone.

However, as it is oft said, “Old habits die hard.”

Some of you in the legal profession are like me. You are stretching yourself thin now, but you think that, at some time in the future, you will be able to flip a switch, relax a little or a lot and enjoy life. Perhaps when you have a few years of practice under your belt. Or when you become a partner. Or when you retire.

I think not. The drive to always be productive and to prioritize the needs of others over your own gets deep into your psyche. I suggest that you work on it now before you find yourself living the perfect life and stressing over whether you are doing it right.

(This was written at 7 a.m. on Good Friday and reviewed by my wife, who is a practising lawyer, at 10 a.m. on the same holiday. See my point?)

This article was originally published by Law360 Canada, part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.