Another Day’s Problem

In this episode, you will learn how to deal with work related anxiety and navigate your mind with a simple framework that can protect you from the modern culture of toxic productivity.

Hi everyone!

This is yours truly, Sayar Henry, and I am so glad that you’re able to tune in to my voice now. I am also excited today because I want to share with you a tip that can help you feel more fulfilled and better focused as you struggle through each day of your life. And more importantly, this is not just about boosting your productivity. This tip may also help you deal better with your anxieties, so it can have some positive impacts on your general well-being too. 

In the first part of this episode, I’m going to give you my thoughts on the relationship between anxiety, toxic productivity, and our ability to concentrate. Then in the later part, I will tell you how exactly I cope with that kind of problems by using a framework that I have developed in recent years. So if you want to improve your everyday life without jeopardizing your mental health, get ready for what I have to share with you today. 

[Episode Theme Music]

One of the signs that indicates you have anxiety related problems is the feeling of irritability and lack of concentration. It means you are more easily annoyed, and more prone to distractions compared to other people around you.

Have you ever felt like you are constantly worrying about the endless matters of life or work and feeling unfulfilled at the end of each day? If you have, there is a high chance that you are an anxious person who is easily irritated by even the smallest of things. 

But don’t worry my friend. You’re not alone. It is a common experience for many people these days. And it also doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with your mind. If you are like most people, like yours truly, the root of your anxieties may have something to do with your ambitions and goals rather than your mental health.  

I mean think about it. People today are a lot more obsessed with achievement and productivity than the previous generations were. In my experience, more than half of the people I know are overambitious. They try to set unrealistic goals and expectations for their work and life, which eventually leads to stress and burnout. Then there are also people who like to cram too many personal tasks into a day, such as cleaning the house, running errands, and meeting up with friends, among countless other activities. This kind of behavior can leave us exhausted and unsatisfied at the end of the day, while also failing to balance our priorities.

And it is also not hard to understand why we fall into the trap of overambition. You see, the world today is filled with endlessly updating streams of information that are competing for our attention. More often than not, we are subconsciously shaped by what we see or hear from our digital society. And these days, what we are exposed to is a society that glorifies productivity and achievement. We are continuously bombarded with messages that tell us to do more, to have more, and to be more. 

Social media platforms are always highlighting immensely successful people too. Take Elon Musk for example. I’m sure you have seen so much of him on multiple social media platforms as one of the highest achievers of the 21st century. This famous CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has been known to work 100-hour weeks and he even famously stated that “nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week.” Although I admire Elon Musk very much and I believe we need more than one Elon Musk in the world, his statement cannot represent the majority of the world’s population. I mean for most people like us, we don’t want to change the world. We just want a decent life! I’m not saying that we should not be interested in changing the world; I am very much on board with such idea. I just don’t think it is for everyone.  

What I’m saying is, if we try to measure our work culture against the standards of people like Elon Musk, it isgoing to make us feel inadequate or insignificant. And of course, it will fuel our desire to work more than we naturally should. But that doesn’t mean we have to adopt such behavior as a regular part of our life. While having a strong drive and ambition are commendable, we have to consider the toll it takes on our mental and physical health. I agree that pushing our limits is beneficial and sometimes necessary. But we don’t want to be like Olympic athletes who push their limits in training and competition up to the point where their overambition causes injuries, burnout, and mental health issues. We should take a reasonable approach in how we set our goals so that we don’t become overambitious and harm ourselves.

There is also another negative aspect of overambition that can lead to anxiety. It is the connection between overambition and distraction. When people set unrealistic expectations and try to achieve too many goals in a limited amount of time, they become distracted and stressed. Because of too many tasks at hand, they start to lose their ability to differentiate what is important from what is not as they frequently switch from one task to the next. As the number of unfinished tasks from their to-do list grow, they start to feel anxious about it. And guess what, as soon as anxiety kicks in, people become more likely to make mistakes and stupid decisions. What was initially set out as a plan to achieve more becomes counterproductive.

If you are a busy enough person, you must have experienced a situation in which you have to worry about multiple things at the same time even though you should be working fully on the task at hand. For example, let’s say you are preparing for a business meeting or an important video call. You know you should be concentrating only on the task at hand, but let’s say you heard some bad news about your work before the meeting. How do you react under such circumstances? If you’re like most people, I think even though you should be concentrating in your preparation for the meeting, you probably can’t stop worrying about other important matters that could go wrong while you are attending this meeting and it becomes harder and harder to shake it off, isn’t it? In another word, you are now under the influence of anxiety. Does it sound familiar to you?

If you find this relatable, don’t worry my friend. In the last part of this episode which is coming right after the ad break, I’m going to share with you a simple framework that can help you out in this kind of situation. So, keep listening, alright?

[Ad Break]

And we’re back to the show!

Earlier, I was hinting you about a framework that I use in dealing with work related anxiety. Although I said it is a framework, it’s not a complicated one. It’s more like a set of questions that reminds me to think logically, not emotionally, to overcome my negative reactions whenever I am facing distracting situations. I tell you, my friend, this series of simple yes or no questions work effectively and instantly. And I usually associate it with the short sentence, “It’s another day’s problem.” You will see what I mean soon.

Here it comes.

Whenever I start feeling like many things are competing for my attention simultaneously, or my mind is jumping from one problem to another, I ask myself:

“Am I feeling anxious or worried?”

If the answer is no, I keep on doing whatever I am doing.

If the answer is yes, I ask another question.
“Do I know why I am worried?”

If the answer is no, that means there is nothing I can address to now, so I keep working on my current task until I somehow learn the reason behind my anxiety”

If, however, the answer is yes, I ask another question.
“Should I attend to this matter now?”

If the answer is no, I say to myself, “If I should not solve it now, then it is another day’s problem” and I continue working on the task at hand.

But if the answer is yes, I ask another question:

“Can I do something about it now?”

If it is no, that means there is no point for me to worry now. I mean the main reason we worry about something is so that we acknowledge the problem and take action on it. That is the only sensible way to deal with our worries. Worrying makes sense if there is something we can do about it. Worrying for the sake of just worrying is pointless. If there is nothing you can do right now, it usually means it is not the right time to worry. So I say to myself again, “That’s another day’s problem.”   

However, if the answer is yes, that means I have a problem that I should and can solve now. At this point, I should ask another question to myself.

“Am I already in the process of dealing with the issue now?”

If the answer is yes again, that means I’m already working on the problem and that it will be resolved sooner or later. Then I realize there is nothing to keep worrying about and my anxiety starts to go away.

But if the answer is no, that means I have a problem that I should and can be working on, and yet I’m doing nothing about it! So I ask myself another question.

“Am I not acting on it because I can’t do anything now?”

If the answer is yes, it means there is nothing I can do about it and that there is no point for me to keep worrying. Remember, my friends, the point of feeling worried is so that we can take action. If there’s nothing we can do about it, we better let it go, at least for the time being. In that case again, I say to myself, “That’s another day’s problem.”

On the other hand, if my answer is no, it means I have a problem that I should be working on and have the luxury to deal with but I’m just procrastinating. In that case, I remind myself to start dealing with it. And as you guess, the anxieties run away soon after I start dealing with the issue. 

You see, by using this set of questions, I can take back the control of my mind, make a conscious decision of where I am going to use my attention and energy, and eliminate my anxieties that are caused by simultaneously pressing matters. These questions help me notice if something is causing me to worry without any sense of urgency, or if it even makes sense to worry at all. It also allows me to let go of some of the problems temporarily, knowing that these are what I can come back to the next day. 

And finally, it’s also important to know the difference between procrastination and this “Another Day’s Problem” framework. Procrastinating is when you choose to do the easier things to run away from the harder tasks. But reminding yourself that you can solve a problem in another day or even another hour in favor of the task at hand is not an act of procrastination. It is a way of reprioritizing what to focus on now, and what to later. So these two cannot be more different.

Alright, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is the end of this episode. I really hope this episode reminds you that daily productivity and achievements are not the only markers of success, and that being overambitious every day will leave you with anxieties and distractions. 

And whenever you suspect that you are anxious or worrying too much, ask yourself if you know why and what you are worrying about, if you should deal with it right away, and if there is something you can do about it at that moment.

If your answer is yes to those questions, and you are moving towards the issue to resolve it, you don’t have to worry about it anymore. And if your answers to the questions turn out to be no, you also don’t have to worry about the problem because it is not the right time to feel that way since you have no control over the matter and the only thing you can do is to let it go temporarily. 

Well, with this tip, I hope you can get through your days better prioritized, a bit more fulfilled, a bit more meaningful, and of course, with significantly less anxiety. Thank you so much for listening and I hope you come back for more. I’ll see you in the next one. Goodbye for now!