Productivity is part of our everyday routine, but sometimes we end up draining ourselves mentally and physically. Toxic productivity is when someone feels the need to be extremely productive in all aspects of life and it’s hard to recognize when it’s happening. It occurs when everyone around is pushing you to be extra productive, which can be good sometimes but also has brutal effects. Here are some ways toxic productivity may affect a person’s life.

Addictive qualities

The reason why this can be so addictive is that there’s a psychological rush you get from achieving things. Dopamine is a chemical in the brain that brings pleasure. These levels increase as a set goal is completed. Adrenaline is increased along with dopamine levels. As time moves forward, the body needs more of the activity causing the increase to keep feeling the rush it gave the first time.

Side effects

The body’s physical and mental energy can be easily drained. Working too hard only speeds up the process. For example, a woman named Erika Ferszt had spent 22 years suffering from toxic productivity until she ultimately had gone temporarily blind. Toxic productivity also has an effect that makes it hard or even impossible to enjoy a break and just relax without anything on an agenda. Every activity a person does with toxic productivity must also have a purpose for the end result. Hanging out with a friend or family member is an example of this effect because the person does not feel like they’re achieving anything if all they do is talk with another person. This is a very negative side effect of toxic productivity because it’s in our human nature to be social with others to survive.

Lack of excitement

Toxic productivity causes people to want to keep being productive and accomplish anything and everything. In turn, this means that people experiencing toxic productivity won’t feel that they succeeded at anything. Going down this road puts someone at high risk of depression. Many can’t even see others have fun around them without a purpose in the activities they do. They lose sight of seeing the fun and excitement in things getting jumbled with just wanting to get the job done.