How to dissolve The Pressure to Be Productive -

Learning to Pause and Reset, to Dissolve the Pressure to Be Productive.

Yesterday I was reminded of an important lesson in motherhood. As moms, there is a pressure to be productive, to get everything done around the house, plus work and then some. It’s both societal and self imposed. We see images of moms who do it all and have it all together while they do it. They’re business owners, work from home moms, some are stay at home moms. And then we internalize this and create a need to get everything done. But the truth is, we don’t.

The Pressure to Be Productive a Blog Post by Outdoor Mama Bear

This hit me square in the face yesterday. I woke up feeling a bit refreshed (albeit still tired because, teething). So naturally I was going to take on my day and get everything done. Then Baby Bear decided that he was going to turn koala and need to be touching me, held by me all day long. Then I felt it, the pressure to be productive. As I sat there holding him while he was crying looking at my house and thinking of all of the things that I need to get done it felt like a crushing weight.

Acknowledging the Pressure to Be Productive

For me the first step to getting out from underneath that crushing weight is to acknowledge its cause. Often its a pit in our stomach or anxiety and we can’t quite place its cause. So we feel stress, and become overwhelmed. Some other bloggers place “overwhelm” as a feeling here but that grates on my nerves and you won’t hear it here. Tangent completed. As I looked down at him, I was reminded of my job, my number one task in life: to be there for him.

Instead of giving into the pressure to be productive, we took walk. — Instead of caving into the pressure to be productive, we took a five mile walk.

While my husband is working, my number one job is Mama Bear. Yes, I have clients. Yes, I have housework. I have all of it. I can and I will get it done. But not all at once. And maybe not all today. Because right now, he needs me. The dishes can sit there. Toys on the floor aren’t going to be the death of me. All of these tasks, I’m compiling them and creating the pressure to be productive.

Then What?

Okay, so I acknowledge that I’m creating the pressure to knock everything off of my to do list. That doesn’t make the feelings caused by that pressure just go away on their own. The next step is to reorder my priorities. Baby Bear is number one. His comfort, his needs, they are my top priorities and will receive all of my attention. After that, I reorder my to do list.

Dissolving the pressure to be productive and enjoy the moments with our baby bears. — A little exercise helps to clear your mind while you’re working on re-prioritizing

It takes work. Just because I was reminded that I needed a priority shift yesterday doesn’t mean it was easy. In fact, while I took him outside to play, I tried to squeeze in some journaling and other tasks. In trying to do too many things at once, I forgot my journal outside and left it there in the rain. It was wide open soaking up all of the rain for probably 20 minutes.

Be Smart About Your Priorities And Accomplish What You Can:

I gave him my full attention for the next hour or two and then it was nap time. Now, during nap time, I can knock out some work. So having reordered my to do list, I was able to knock out a few things. This goes a long way towards helping dissolve this pressure to be productive. Maybe there is something that you really need to get done. Okay, do that first. Or maybe you have a mountain of smaller tasks. Find a few that you can do quickly, so you get the energy that comes from crossing items off of your growing to do list.