129. Productivity Tax
Every choice we make regarding how we spend our time affects how we allocate it elsewhere. This is what we refer to as the "productivity tax." This week, I'll delve into how we often compound this tax by postponing decisions and failing to establish boundaries.
How can you minimize this productivity tax? I'll guide you through the process of creating supportive systems, carving out more personal time, and achieving a balanced, fulfilling life. Refraining from paying the productivity tax is an act of rebellion from societal norms. It's not easy, but it's crucial for your overall well-being.
Discover effective techniques for setting and maintaining boundaries, and understand their profound significance. Take charge of your time and energy, identify productivity taxes in your life, and begin making space for what you are choosing to cultivate.
My Not Your Average Productivity Course (which runs November 13th to December 15th, 2023) opens its doors for enrollment on October 19th, 2023. Be the first to sign up with my early bird special: get on my email list to receive it!
Do you want to stop working late and working through lunches? Do you want to have more control over your time? Click here to download my FREE Top 5 Calendar Tips! They are simple and effective, and you can implement them right away!
What You Will Discover:
What the productivity tax is.
Why boundaries are necessary.
Who is responsible for your productivity tax.
Common actions that compound your productivity tax.
Resources:
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It's Been a Pleasure, Noni Blake by Claire Christian
Full Episode Transcript:
Hey you all, I’m Marissa McKool, and you’re listening to the Redefining Rest Podcast for Public Health Professionals. Here we believe rest is your right. You don’t have to earn it, you just have to learn how to take it and I’m going to teach you. Ready? Come along.
Hi, everyone. How’s it going? Before we get into today’s episode I have a not really coaching related recommendation. Those of you who follow me on Instagram, you know on my stories I share my opinion about lots of things, vegan food reviews. Now I’ve been doing make-up reviews. I might do skincare. I love to share out what I’m loving, what I purchased that I didn’t love so other people can also get the information.
One thing I shared that I cannot stop thinking about that I had to share here with all of you is a fiction book I just read. Now, I don’t read a ton of fiction. I read a lot of non-fiction to build my knowledge, my understanding around coaching tools, psychology, intersectionality and a million other things. But I do love fiction books. I get through them a lot faster and I like to read them in between my non-fictions. This book I picked up at the library randomly. I could not put it down. It’s called, It’s Been a Pleasure, Noni Blake by Claire Christian.
Now, let me tell you, this was laugh out loud funny. Every chapter I laughed, which I never laugh, reading books. I also cried. It was so touching. I thought it was beautifully written. I felt like I was with the character, probably because I related a lot to the main character. So if you struggle with knowing what you want or you feel awkward a lot or you feel like shit in relationships, or you’re trying to work on yourself but you don’t know what that means, you don’t know how to prioritize yourself or find pleasure. This book will probably be a great read for you.
And if that’s not you, but you want to read a beautifully written book about someone navigating, figuring out what they want in life and who they are and laugh, I highly, highly recommend it. Just wanted to share that out because I can’t stop thinking about it. I really hope it’s made into a movie and a good movie, not a bad Netflix or lifetime movie version of the book.
Okay, I shared a little bit last week, but we are doing the Not Your Average Productivity Course one more time. If you’re not interested in hearing any of the details, feel free to skip forward to the actual podcast episode. But real quickly for those of you who are interested, here are the logistical details. Enrollment starts for this course, registration for the general public starts October 19th, that is this Thursday, and it closes November 5th. But if you are on my email list, enrollment will open a day early for you and you will get an early bird special of $50 off registration.
So if you’re on my email list it opens October 18th and you get a discount. If you aren’t on my email list and you want that, come join us. The link will be in the show notes for you to get on the email list. The course officially starts November 13th and goes through December 15th. It’s five weeks long. I am integrating one new thing, well, a couple of new things but one of them I’m going to share with you now. We are going to have an orientation call the week before the course starts, November 6th through 9th.
I didn’t do this last time. It’s just going to be a one-on-one call, you and me for 30 minutes just to chat about where you’re at, what you’re struggling with, what you want to get out of the course, get to know one another. Then during the actual course, you’ll get three coaching sessions throughout the five weeks. I know Thanksgiving is one of those weeks. Those of you who celebrate, we won’t have coaching calls that week. You’ll get weekly self-directed videos that you can watch when it works best for you and a few implementation worksheets.
So all the details, many, many more details are on my website mckoolcoaching.com/courses. This is the last time I’m offering it this year, so I want you to head there, check it out, get more info, join our email list. And when we open enrollment, come register.
Okay, let’s talk about productivity tax. How much are you paying in productivity tax in the time you’re spending, in the money you’re spending, in the energy, in the emotions? Productivity tax is what you are paying to get more done, to get through your to-do list, to hustle, to overwork, to try to multitask, to distract, to not say no, to not set boundaries. For many women in public health, you are paying a way higher tax than necessary. You are paying in the time you’re missing out with your family. You are paying by your grumpy mood and being reactive to everyone around you.
You are paying by being stuck in a job you don’t even like. You are paying it by not going after your goals, not even dreaming anymore. You are paying this tax by not sleeping well because of your stress. You’re paying it by gaining weight and not feeling in shape and overeating and not going to the gym. How else are you paying this productivity tax, are you overpaying this productivity tax? A productivity tax of some sort isn’t 100% avoidable because when we choose to focus on work, we are choosing not to focus on something else.
When we choose to do chores and run errands, we are choosing not to do something else. Everything is a give or take. So I’m not saying the point is to not pay any type of productivity tax. I’m saying how much you are paying is way too much. When you decide to work a full-time job, you are choosing to not be a stay at home parent. That is a productivity tax you are paying, but that might be one you are okay with.
When you decide to spend all Saturday cleaning and running errands you are choosing not to spend time with your friends or read a book. That is a productivity tax you are paying but you might be okay with that tax. The problem is overall you are paying way too much in productivity tax and you aren’t even aware of it.
It would be like if you make $75,000 and you’re supposed to pay 22% taxes on that salary, which would be a little more than 16,000. But instead you are unknowingly paying 44% tax on that salary, double, which means you’re paying well over $30,000 in taxes. If that was the case, if we use the salary analogy, you would be pissed. You’d want a refund. You’d want to know who in HR fucked that up. You’d want the IRS to send you an apology with interest back, pay you interest for the money you lost, but you are doing that to yourself via the productivity tax.
When you are trying to make the ‘right choice’, you are paying double the tax of time to make a decision. When you never say no because you’re worried what your colleagues are going to think, you are paying double the tax in your workload in stress. When you don’t set boundaries or don’t hold boundaries because you feel bad, you are paying double the tax in the overwhelm you are experiencing.
And I could go on and on and on about different taxes costing you twice as much time with your family or energy to engage in hobbies you love, or emotional capacity to date, or meet new friends or motivation to work towards a goal or a million other things. Don’t you want a refund on that? Aren’t you pissed you are getting double taxed on your time and energy and emotional experience? Don’t you want to send yourself an apology letter with interest back on your time, on your energy, on your happiness?
It is time you stop paying so damn much in productivity tax. And the only person who can make that happen is you, not your job, not your boss, not your colleagues, not your partner. I know you think it’s them, it’s not, it’s you. And you have to first take responsibility that you are choosing to pay this double, triple, quadruple tax. And then you have to choose to stop, to set boundaries, to say no, to stop people pleasing and prioritize you, your life, your happiness, your time, your goals, your hobbies.
Otherwise you’re going to end up looking back on your career and wondering what if. What if I had put myself first? What if I didn’t make so many excuses? What if I had stopped caring so much about what other people thought? Listen, no one on their deathbed wishes they had spent more time in meetings or taken on more work or responded to emails more quickly. No, they wish they spent more time with their family, that they traveled more, that they spent more time outdoors, that they went after their goals and dreams, that they were happier.
In America and western culture, especially in America, you are socialized to pay an exorbitant and exploitative, how do you say that word, exploitative? You all know what I’m talking about, productivity tax. And notice, I said you’re socialized. You’re not required to pay this double, triple productivity tax, you’re socialized to. Meaning it’s still a choice you get to make to stop paying so much in this productivity tax. Hustle culture is not going to encourage you to pay less of a productivity tax. I’m encouraging you. You can make this choice. It’s simple, it’s not easy.
I’m not going to lie to you, it is not easy. It doesn’t happen overnight. It means going against the norm. It means undoing some of your internalization. It means being with the discomfort. It means changing your brain’s programming. It’s not easy, but it is simple. You can do it. It’s not complicated. And it starts with you taking responsibility that the problem is you. Yes, our society is part of the problem, we’re not denying that here.
But you can’t change society, not alone and not overnight, and not in the time that you need in your lifetime to take back this double triple productivity tax, but you can choose you. And I’m going to be real honest with you all, that’s part of being a coach. You are also part of the problem and listen, so am I. I’m part of my own problem here. I’m talking to me too. Decide today that you’re going to stop paying this double tax.
Now, making this decision today doesn’t mean overnight you’re going to stop it. It’s the intention, make that decision and then it takes time to do, so decide you’re going to do something about it. Whether it’s joining the Not Your Average Productivity course or working on this with your therapist or practicing setting boundaries or hiring a coach or anything else. Because if you don’t, you’re going to get to the end of your career and wonder what the fuck all of it was for.
If you get to the end of your career and you found out you were paying double the monetary tax on your salary, you’d be pissed. You’d be like, “What the fuck? I could have put that all in retirement. I could have used that to buy a house. I could have used that to travel.” The same with productivity tax. You’re going to be saying, “I wasn’t so happy. I don’t have great memories. I have so many regrets. I have so many things I wish I would have done and said.” I don’t want that for you, and more importantly, you don’t want that for you and you don’t have to have it.
And if you want help, if you want to start working on this, the Not Your Average Productivity course is a great place to start. And listen, I’m not going to lie to you. This five week course isn’t going to completely undo your people pleasing or your overwhelm or your challenge of saying no. But it is going to help you get started. It is going to help you go deeper in the work. It’s going to give you some tools and some coaching and support to start this journey.
So head to mckoolcoaching.com/courses, get all the info and when we open enrollment later this week, I want you to come join us. Alright, everyone, I’ll talk to you next week. Bye.
If you found this episode helpful then you have to check out my coaching program where I provide you individualized support to create a life centered around rest. Head on over to mckoolcoaching.com, that’s M-C-K-O-O-L coaching.com to learn more.
Hi, everyone. How’s it going? Before we get into today’s episode I have a not really coaching related recommendation. Those of you who follow me on Instagram, you know on my stories I share my opinion about lots of things, vegan food reviews. Now I’ve been doing make-up reviews. I might do skincare. I love to share out what I’m loving, what I purchased that I didn’t love so other people can also get the information.
One thing I shared that I cannot stop thinking about that I had to share here with all of you is a fiction book I just read. Now, I don’t read a ton of fiction. I read a lot of non-fiction to build my knowledge, my understanding around coaching tools, psychology, intersectionality and a million other things. But I do love fiction books. I get through them a lot faster and I like to read them in between my non-fictions. This book I picked up at the library randomly. I could not put it down. It’s called, It’s Been a Pleasure, Noni Blake by Claire Christian.
Now, let me tell you, this was laugh out loud funny. Every chapter I laughed, which I never laugh, reading books. I also cried. It was so touching. I thought it was beautifully written. I felt like I was with the character, probably because I related a lot to the main character. So if you struggle with knowing what you want or you feel awkward a lot or you feel like shit in relationships, or you’re trying to work on yourself but you don’t know what that means, you don’t know how to prioritize yourself or find pleasure. This book will probably be a great read for you.
And if that’s not you, but you want to read a beautifully written book about someone navigating, figuring out what they want in life and who they are and laugh, I highly, highly recommend it. Just wanted to share that out because I can’t stop thinking about it. I really hope it’s made into a movie and a good movie, not a bad Netflix or lifetime movie version of the book.
Okay, I shared a little bit last week, but we are doing the Not Your Average Productivity Course one more time. If you’re not interested in hearing any of the details, feel free to skip forward to the actual podcast episode. But real quickly for those of you who are interested, here are the logistical details. Enrollment starts for this course, registration for the general public starts October 19th, that is this Thursday, and it closes November 5th. But if you are on my email list, enrollment will open a day early for you and you will get an early bird special of $50 off registration.
So if you’re on my email list it opens October 18th and you get a discount. If you aren’t on my email list and you want that, come join us. The link will be in the show notes for you to get on the email list. The course officially starts November 13th and goes through December 15th. It’s five weeks long. I am integrating one new thing, well, a couple of new things but one of them I’m going to share with you now. We are going to have an orientation call the week before the course starts, November 6th through 9th.
I didn’t do this last time. It’s just going to be a one-on-one call, you and me for 30 minutes just to chat about where you’re at, what you’re struggling with, what you want to get out of the course, get to know one another. Then during the actual course, you’ll get three coaching sessions throughout the five weeks. I know Thanksgiving is one of those weeks. Those of you who celebrate, we won’t have coaching calls that week. You’ll get weekly self-directed videos that you can watch when it works best for you and a few implementation worksheets.
So all the details, many, many more details are on my website mckoolcoaching.com/courses. This is the last time I’m offering it this year, so I want you to head there, check it out, get more info, join our email list. And when we open enrollment, come register.
Okay, let’s talk about productivity tax. How much are you paying in productivity tax in the time you’re spending, in the money you’re spending, in the energy, in the emotions? Productivity tax is what you are paying to get more done, to get through your to-do list, to hustle, to overwork, to try to multitask, to distract, to not say no, to not set boundaries. For many women in public health, you are paying a way higher tax than necessary. You are paying in the time you’re missing out with your family. You are paying by your grumpy mood and being reactive to everyone around you.
You are paying by being stuck in a job you don’t even like. You are paying it by not going after your goals, not even dreaming anymore. You are paying this tax by not sleeping well because of your stress. You’re paying it by gaining weight and not feeling in shape and overeating and not going to the gym. How else are you paying this productivity tax, are you overpaying this productivity tax? A productivity tax of some sort isn’t 100% avoidable because when we choose to focus on work, we are choosing not to focus on something else.
When we choose to do chores and run errands, we are choosing not to do something else. Everything is a give or take. So I’m not saying the point is to not pay any type of productivity tax. I’m saying how much you are paying is way too much. When you decide to work a full-time job, you are choosing to not be a stay at home parent. That is a productivity tax you are paying, but that might be one you are okay with.
When you decide to spend all Saturday cleaning and running errands you are choosing not to spend time with your friends or read a book. That is a productivity tax you are paying but you might be okay with that tax. The problem is overall you are paying way too much in productivity tax and you aren’t even aware of it.
It would be like if you make $75,000 and you’re supposed to pay 22% taxes on that salary, which would be a little more than 16,000. But instead you are unknowingly paying 44% tax on that salary, double, which means you’re paying well over $30,000 in taxes. If that was the case, if we use the salary analogy, you would be pissed. You’d want a refund. You’d want to know who in HR fucked that up. You’d want the IRS to send you an apology with interest back, pay you interest for the money you lost, but you are doing that to yourself via the productivity tax.
When you are trying to make the ‘right choice’, you are paying double the tax of time to make a decision. When you never say no because you’re worried what your colleagues are going to think, you are paying double the tax in your workload in stress. When you don’t set boundaries or don’t hold boundaries because you feel bad, you are paying double the tax in the overwhelm you are experiencing.
And I could go on and on and on about different taxes costing you twice as much time with your family or energy to engage in hobbies you love, or emotional capacity to date, or meet new friends or motivation to work towards a goal or a million other things. Don’t you want a refund on that? Aren’t you pissed you are getting double taxed on your time and energy and emotional experience? Don’t you want to send yourself an apology letter with interest back on your time, on your energy, on your happiness?
It is time you stop paying so damn much in productivity tax. And the only person who can make that happen is you, not your job, not your boss, not your colleagues, not your partner. I know you think it’s them, it’s not, it’s you. And you have to first take responsibility that you are choosing to pay this double, triple, quadruple tax. And then you have to choose to stop, to set boundaries, to say no, to stop people pleasing and prioritize you, your life, your happiness, your time, your goals, your hobbies.
Otherwise you’re going to end up looking back on your career and wondering what if. What if I had put myself first? What if I didn’t make so many excuses? What if I had stopped caring so much about what other people thought? Listen, no one on their deathbed wishes they had spent more time in meetings or taken on more work or responded to emails more quickly. No, they wish they spent more time with their family, that they traveled more, that they spent more time outdoors, that they went after their goals and dreams, that they were happier.
In America and western culture, especially in America, you are socialized to pay an exorbitant and exploitative, how do you say that word, exploitative? You all know what I’m talking about, productivity tax. And notice, I said you’re socialized. You’re not required to pay this double, triple productivity tax, you’re socialized to. Meaning it’s still a choice you get to make to stop paying so much in this productivity tax. Hustle culture is not going to encourage you to pay less of a productivity tax. I’m encouraging you. You can make this choice. It’s simple, it’s not easy.
I’m not going to lie to you, it is not easy. It doesn’t happen overnight. It means going against the norm. It means undoing some of your internalization. It means being with the discomfort. It means changing your brain’s programming. It’s not easy, but it is simple. You can do it. It’s not complicated. And it starts with you taking responsibility that the problem is you. Yes, our society is part of the problem, we’re not denying that here.
But you can’t change society, not alone and not overnight, and not in the time that you need in your lifetime to take back this double triple productivity tax, but you can choose you. And I’m going to be real honest with you all, that’s part of being a coach. You are also part of the problem and listen, so am I. I’m part of my own problem here. I’m talking to me too. Decide today that you’re going to stop paying this double tax.
Now, making this decision today doesn’t mean overnight you’re going to stop it. It’s the intention, make that decision and then it takes time to do, so decide you’re going to do something about it. Whether it’s joining the Not Your Average Productivity course or working on this with your therapist or practicing setting boundaries or hiring a coach or anything else. Because if you don’t, you’re going to get to the end of your career and wonder what the fuck all of it was for.
If you get to the end of your career and you found out you were paying double the monetary tax on your salary, you’d be pissed. You’d be like, “What the fuck? I could have put that all in retirement. I could have used that to buy a house. I could have used that to travel.” The same with productivity tax. You’re going to be saying, “I wasn’t so happy. I don’t have great memories. I have so many regrets. I have so many things I wish I would have done and said.” I don’t want that for you, and more importantly, you don’t want that for you and you don’t have to have it.
And if you want help, if you want to start working on this, the Not Your Average Productivity course is a great place to start. And listen, I’m not going to lie to you. This five week course isn’t going to completely undo your people pleasing or your overwhelm or your challenge of saying no. But it is going to help you get started. It is going to help you go deeper in the work. It’s going to give you some tools and some coaching and support to start this journey.
So head to mckoolcoaching.com/courses, get all the info and when we open enrollment later this week, I want you to come join us. Alright, everyone, I’ll talk to you next week. Bye.
If you found this episode helpful then you have to check out my coaching program where I provide you individualized support to create a life centered around rest. Head on over to mckoolcoaching.com, that’s M-C-K-O-O-L coaching.com to learn more.
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130. Not Your Average Productivity Course
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