To do or not to do, that is the question.

He who does not want to work, should not eat.

Popular proverb

As long as you breathe, there's no way to "do nothing." Sitting, staring at the wall and thinking about the crab's immortality, you're already doing something. It's another matter whether this corresponds to the social concept of productivity or utility, which is the average of doing or not doing and, therefore, of being or not being important, responsible, accepted, desirable, and/or successful.

The reality is that it all comes down to the popular proverb that constitutes our epigraph. Being supported becomes a burden. That's why there are parameters of self-sustainability, contribution, collaboration, etc. However, there are also social beliefs that exert unnecessary pressure. Let's explore them.

There's a syndrome in the workplace called productivitis: the urge to always be doing something, to the point of exhaustion, adding and adding to all the activities we haven't finished or even started; in other words, piling up pending tasks, because that's what guarantees we'll remain "productive."

But when we're alone, or in the company of our family, we don't know what to do with ourselves. There are two reasons: first, we feel guilty. That is, as soon as we begin to feel comfortable, that thought comes to us telling us we're wasting time or that relaxing is bad when we have so much to do, and then we become disgruntled. Second, we don't know what to do outside of that environment in which we're "productive." We're, therefore, like a fish out of water, completely alienated and uncomfortable, almost suffocating, in our own personal lives and very, very far from that intimacy we so deeply desire with our loved ones.

Now, transfer the productivity syndrome to the common concept of usefulness, applicable to everyone, whether we work or not. Who hasn't heard the phrase "do something useful?" To your family, your partner, your friends, and those around you, it is forbidden to be useless in terms of contributing work, money, or any kind of effort that makes you worthy of your livelihood.

As students, we must perform well in school; as providers, guides, and authorities at home, we must be an example. You can see how many adults cannot overcome the childhood traumas caused by neglectful, addicted, violent, or absent parents, justifying their own mistakes with this. If you are a partner, you must reciprocate. If you are a friend, you must be there when needed. In short, we have a lot of paradigms about the usefulness of people, which are not entirely without reason, but they are proportionate.

Proportion is everything. Just a few examples: you can't try to appear or even be productive all the time if there isn't a balance between efficiency and effectiveness; you can't be a good provider without understanding why we're tired and need our time alone, but you also can't live between productivity and isolation, because our loved ones need us, and we need them.

Without the notion of balance, it will be very difficult for us to enjoy life as it is and as it presents itself. We will constantly feel the need to control it. Sometimes we have to go without to understand this. It is time to reconsider the way we have been living, to adapt and evolve economically, psychologically, relationally, and spiritually.

This adaptation involves moving away from extremes, moving away from productivitis and utilitis, but also from laziness and idleness, which are nothing more than the childish demand that others take care of us, whoever that may be, including our fellow citizens and the government.

This demand that "those who are at fault" resolve the problem for us, and those who aren't, pay for it, keeps us sulking and frustrated while we struggle to resolve it, because deep down we hate it.

@F_DeLasFuentes

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