In the summer of 2023, I had a completly new life experience: I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like my heart was about to burst through my chest. Yep, that’s right – I had an anxiety attack in the middle of the night. Eyes wide open and starring into the night, I laid in my bed for a long time trying to catch my breath and calm myself down.
My obituary
Fueled by an active imagination, I saw the worst possible outcome of what was happening: my obituary. It read, “Nicole, 29, was a bright and creative young woman taken away from us far too soon by a heart attack. She will be fondly remembered for her sense of humour and desire to help others.”
“Heart attack?”
“Taken away far too soon?”
Was I working myself to death? Was it worth it?
I don’t remember when I had slipped back into sleep but I remember the alarm on my phone ringing at 6:45 AM. I remember wondering how I would go through another day of work. That morning I decided to finally get myself some anxiety medication. And quit my job. You know, before I dropped dead “far too soon”. Or burn out completely.
The almost-burnout
In the months that followed leaving my job, I finally had enough headspace to look back and reflect. How does a health-conscious person with solid productivity habits end up almost burning out? It turned out there were a few factors.
There was the wellbeing component. I consider myself a health-oriented person. Do I occassionally have a cup of coffee too many or a second piece of cake? Yes. But I also have a healthy workout routine, meditate, journal, watch what I eat, and reguarly adjust my wellbeing practices to support the season of life I am in.
Then, there were my work habits (or productivity habits). I’ve always been driven and proactive. In my 20ies, I read self-improvement books for breakfast, climbed the career ladder during the day, participated in/founded/organised events and committees during the lunch break, and worked on my side-projects in the evenings. I had become a productivity and efficiency superhero, but I hadn’t occured to me that superheros actually rest between gigs. I didn’t.
The last component was environment. To say I was not enjoying my job that summer would be an understatement. I didn’t agree with the way I was told to do my tasks. There was a huge rift between my personal values and the values encouraged by the leadership. Worst of all, I routinely felt unsupported and unappreciated. No matter what I tried, I was not able to make the situation better for myself.
Bring these three components together and we can draw this scenic picture: without me realising, my unsustainable productivity habits were starting to catch fire and burn me out. The work environment was like gasoline poured over fire. And my wellbeing practices were like a tiny stream of water trying to keep everything from exploading.
If you’d like to learn more about burnout, its stages, and how it differs from everyday stress, check this article.
What shocked me even more was that once I looked around me, I saw many people heading down the same road. I could hear it in the conversations with my friends and read it between lines of inspiring posts on LinkedIn. Working many hours in unsustainable environments, having poor productivity habits, and, more often than not, lack of wellbeing pracrices – people are burning out and they don’t even know it. I felt the urge to do something about it.
Productivity 2.0: Bridging the gap
When I got my coaching certification, I thought that I’ll be coaching people on how to live a healthier life and build better habits. It did not occur to me that 3 years, 2 challenging jobs, and 1 almost-burnout later I will be combining all that knowledge with my productivity skillset. And yet, this is exactly what I am doing.
Productivity 2.0 was born out of my need to bridge the gap between wellbeing knowledge and skills and my productivity habits and grew into a concept that can help you do the same.
Let’s take a closer look at the ingredients of Productivity 2.0.
Feel Well
Investing in feeling well gives you more energy.
The first component of Productivity 2.0 is wellbeing. The focus here is on understanding your health holistically. There is more to your wellbeing than being physically well and fit. In fact, holistic wellbeing is built upon 5 pillars – physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social. Learning more about each pillar, as well as how all of them interract, empowers you to reclaim your health, energy, vibrancy, and sense of connection and purpose.
In productivity 2.0, we double down on physical and mental health. Building sustainable and supportive habits in these areas ensures that you have energy to spend on work and that you approach your productivity mindfully, joyfully, and sustainably.
Work Well
Investing in working well gives you more time.
The second component of Productivity 2.0 is productivity. The first thing that you shift is your focus. You move away from working for the sake of working, and start working for the sake of living a good life. You build effective personal productivity systems by leaning on your strengths and learning powerful productivity principles. This enables you to prioritise effectively, focus, get into a flow state, and deliver results faster.
The results of working well is freeing more time to take care of your wellbeing (see how it goes in a circle?) and do the things that bring you joy and personal fulfillment.
Live Well
Feeling well and working well gives you more fulfilment.
When you combine feeling well with working well you invitable end up living well. You thrive in the intersection.
Imagine this: instead of 8 hour, your daily tasks take you 5 hours. You just freed up 3 hours to spend in any way you like. A sweat sess in the gym, yoga in the park, a nap, taking an online course, making a delicious meal, connecting with family and friends – yes, please! Since you have time to take care of yourself, you feel lit up. Energy, joy, and ideas, are flowing through your veins! You go back to the things that made you feel alive, confident, fulfilled. All of this makes you show up for your work as your best version, making a full circle. Next thing you know, you are absolutely thriving! People ask what the secret to your glow is. You smile and simply say: Productivity 2.0.
That’s what I am talking about!
The aftermath
That night, in the summer of 2023, was a wake up call. It literally woke me up to the fact that I couldn’t afford to keep sacrificing my health and joy for work. Life is funny this way: one summer you feel like you’re hitting rock bottom, the next – you’ve taken those rocks and built a bridge between wellbeing and productivity so you can thrive.
This is not only about me. It is about you, too. Let this be your sign that you can’t afford to keep sacrificing your health and joy for work either. There is another way, a better way. It’s called Productivity 2.0. Luckily for you, you don’t have to hit rock bottom or build the bridge. I’ve already built it. You just need to decide that you deserve a thriving life and take the first step.
Are you ready to take your first step towards Productivity 2.0?
Sign up for Thrive Well: The Masterclass ๐
During this free masterclass we will dive deeper into Productivity 2.0 and how to apply it to create a thriving life! Save your spot up here.
