Calm Productivity
The productivity hack you need for autism & ADHD
We all know hustle culture, right? And I think we’re all sick of it. I like being busy as much as the next person, but I don’t want to be go go go for the sake of it.
Enter ‘calm productivity’ - the productivity hack you didn’t know you needed (until now). Calm productivity is the antithesis of hustle culture - it is getting stuff done slowly, surely, and above all, calmly.
It’s not necessarily your soft girl era, either. Calm productivity is a way of working that involves being focused and productive whilst still maintaining a sense of balance and presence. At its core, calm productivity recognises that your greatest contributions happen when you carve out periods of focused, energised work, like Cal Newport advocates for with his concept of ‘deep work’, not when you’re simply putting in more hours or juggling multitasking. It’s about working smarter, not harder, and protecting work-life balance.
At the other end of the spectrum, hustle culture is “overworking on purpose”, which ultimately eventually only leads to burnout. It’s not just working to survive; it’s deliberately working above and beyond what you need to in order to prove how much you can work and/or how much you can earn.
As someone with autism and ADHD I seem to be constantly on the lookout for the latest productivity hack. I’m not ashamed to say that I want to live an undemanding, carefree life, and to a certain extent crafting a low-demand lifestyle for myself has afforded me the ability to live like that. But even so, I’m always wondering how I can be more effective and efficient at life, and unfortunately this has made me susceptible to ‘ultra productivity’; and although I’ve since renounced my ultra-productive ways (or at least tried to), I haven’t quite succeeded at slow and simple productivity either.
This is where the concept of calm productivity is helping me as I endeavour to maintain a low-demand lifestyle. As I recover from burnout it’s super easy for me to fall back into the trap of go go go - but at what cost? I’m not willing to burn myself out again, so I’m having to learn how to be calmly productive.
How to be calmly productive
There are many potential ways to practice calm productivity, but here are some ideas to help you get started:
Slow down. According to
, “Slowing down is a radical practice... Resisting the tyranny of constant productivity and allowing ourselves to be is a rebellious act of self-love.” (Read his full post here).Prioritize. Prioritize the tasks and activities that are most meaningful to you, not what’s most urgent or what other people expect from you. Prioritizing the tasks that really matter to you will enable you to spend more time and energy on your high-value and/or high-impact projects, as opposed to trying to accomplish lots of things that don’t really matter to you.
Meditation. Cultivating a practice of regular meditation can help you to pause, breathe deeply, and be present. Even a short guided meditation can help you relax and create a sense of calm. There are lots of free meditations on YouTube, as well as free and paid apps, so do your research and find what works for you.
Take five minutes during the day to do something soothing and restful. You might look at the sky, play with a dog, lie under a soft blanket, give a partner a long hug, make hot tea and watch the swirling steam, go for a short walk, drink water, or tend to indoor plants.
Create sanctity of space. This is a concept I heard Jade Bowler talk about in relation to studying, but it can also be applied to work and other activities. Time-blocking and creating distraction-free zones can also help to create a calming space in order to promote calm productivity.
Overall, calm productivity is a way of managing your workload and tackling day-to-day tasks so that you can focus on your highest priorities, take breaks and live more mindfully in everyday life. It involves slowing down, saying no, and prioritizing what’s important to you versus what the world says should be important to you.
A calmly productive life prioritizes what’s most meaningful, what’s most impactful, and what’s of highest value to you. This will be different for everyone so it’s worth taking the time to consider what your priorities are - health, finances, family and friends are common priorities, but it pays to be specific.
Finally, calm productivity is about doing less, not more. It’s about creating a sense of calm surrounding everything you do and living from a place of peace and quiet, cultivating a restful existence and finding your inner calm. For more on the topic of calm productivity, check out this post, this newsletter, this website, and this Notion pack. And if you’re interested in doing whatever it is you want to do, with less stress and more joy, check out this post I wrote on what a low-demand life could look like for you. Til next time,
J x
This is brilliant, Jessica. I was enrolled and read every word from beginning to end. You so skillfully captured the essence of calm productivity, which is the hardest part. Thank you for the mention, and I wish you all the best as you recover from burnout and find a sustainable path forward.
This whole post was like a breath of fresh air! and the way you captured calm productivity in a language I’ve been craving👏🏻👏🏻 Especially as someone who’s definitely danced with burnout and is unlearning toxic hustle patterns, this just hit so deep. Thank you for writing this so compassionately♡