Breaking Free from the Productivity Trap: A Therapist’s Journey

Ever felt guilty for doing “nothing all day”?

As a mental healthcare professional, being ‘unproductive’ can be triggering due to its latent connection to self-worth. Often times thoughts start circling my mind like “Come on Olivia, why are you being so lazy?”, “Get up and do something already!”. Attending therapy has allowed me to identify this as my ‘inner critic’. This voice is an accumulation of internalised external judgements and societal expectations. It was born in childhood and serves a protective function to spare each one of us from pain and shame.

Psychologists Earley and Weiss identified 7 types of inner critics which get triggered in different contexts.Take the “Task Maker” for example; this part is constantly pushing you to succeed in fear of being judged as mediocre or a failure. Despite its positive intent; the inner critic unfortunately does not know when to stop pushing. Relentless critiques can be crippling – contributing to low self-esteem and emotional distress.

It’s important to remember that your value as a human being is not dependent on your ability to achieve. Taking time to rest is vital for mental and physical restoration and regeneration. Allow yourself the space to be, and watch the natural emergence of insight and creativity, helping you connect with your deeper purpose.

Each one of us has a true self – wise, deep, open, and loving, without being hijacked by painful internal narratives. I’ve grown to understand and appreciate all the voices making up my inner dialogue. And by acknowledging its presence, you can choose to take back control and lean into more helpful and uplifting self-dialogue.

References:

Earley, J. (2009). Self-Therapy: A step-by-step guide to creating inner wholeness using IFS, a new, cutting-edge psychotherapy. Hillcrest Publishing Group.

Stone, H., & Stone, S. (1994). The inner critic. Retrieved from https://halstone.com/articles/The_Inner_Critic.pdf