Episode 1263: Mental Health and Productivity

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining me on episode 1,263 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:00:06] Robert Farrington: I'm Robert Farrington from the college investor.com. I encourage you to be inspired to become a better steward through financial wisdom by listening to this show, The Inspired Stewardship Podcast with my friend Scott Maderer.

[00:00:27] Scott Maderer: If you focus on these core areas, then it can begin to help you bring some balance to your life. Again, this isn't to say that if you have something going on that you shouldn't seek further help, whether that's therapy, whether that's coaching, whether that's something else, but it does mean that you can begin to do some things even on your.

[00:00:48] No matter what, welcome, and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must [00:01:00] learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling. In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence so that you can impact.

[00:01:15] In today's episode about investing in others by stewarding your time, I talk with you about the link between mental health and productivity. I also share why even if it may make you more productive on the surface, treating your mental health seriously is important, and I also share four strategies to help you balance mental health and productivity.

[00:01:39] As we talk about stewarding your time, wouldn't it be great if you could support this podcast and do it without just taking too long? Turns out you can't. All you have to do is use inspired stewardship.com/amazon. When you're ready to make a purchase via Amazon, and a small commission will come back to support the show.

[00:01:58] Just that quick. If you [00:02:00] enjoy the show when you are ready to buy from Amazon, just use inspired stewardship.com/. Mental health and productivity are closely linked. Poor mental health, whether it's depression, anxiety, or what we would call burnout, can often decrease motivation and production and increase stress, and thus it has serious consequences on people, on relationships, on work.

[00:02:30] All of these other components of. If you have something, even something like ADHD or another learning disability, it can interfere with focus and attention and make it harder to get things done it. It's why mental health is so important for your productive health as well, meaning whether or not you can get done the things that you need to get done.

[00:02:58] A lot of times [00:03:00] people think of things like simple like A D H D. And something that can actually make them more productive because there's this feeling that whenever I'm anxious, whenever I'm stressed it, it actually kind brings more focus and brings more attention and allows me to get more done.

[00:03:19] I've heard people that say I work best under pressure. I work best whenever everything is coming together at the end, that's when I. at my peak, that's when I get everything done. But the truth is, if it's really mental health that's at play here, even though you may feel more productive or more focused, or more capable, are getting things done quicker and easier.

[00:03:48] It's probably a falsehood. It's probably not really true. If you were able to balance your mental health a little better, you'd often actually get even more [00:04:00] done, but it doesn't feel that way. There's this sort of disconnect between feeling and reality. The things as simple as just moving too much or needing to get up and go all the time.

[00:04:14] Having difficulty focusing and paying attention, having difficulty being able to get started on a task, but rather instead sit around and just waiting. All of these things can be symptoms of mental health issues that with treatment can be fixed. Or at least controlled in a way that helps you become more productive.

[00:04:41] Instead, productivity is valuable both for you as an individual as well as for those around you, your family, your workplace, the world in general, and letting mental health get in the way of that can be a detriment to it. So some of the [00:05:00] things that you can actually. Beyond just seeking out treatment and therapy and all of the other things that can actually happen.

[00:05:08] Maybe you don't have a full blown mental health issue. Remember, I'm not a therapist. I can't really diagnose it. Maybe you're just stressed out. Maybe it's just you're getting close to burnout and before you've even gotten to that point, one of the things you can do is recognize and be lenient with yourself when it comes.

[00:05:30] Unavoidable circumstances. Sometimes there are things that happen in our life that affect our state of mind, and recognizing that and having some grace for yourself allows you to take into account those factors and deal with them more realistically. Instead, we often just beat ourselves up with unrealistic expectations.

[00:05:50] We expect ourselves to rise. Form at a level that no human being could, and in fact, we would often have grace for others in such a [00:06:00] situation, but have none for ourselves as well. You can focus on building your motivation. This is the idea of learning things like mindfulness and other activities so that you can stop multitasking and build more focus.

[00:06:19] Again, there are cases where it's something that actually needs outside treatment, but sometimes it's really just a habit that you've built up and you can focus on your mental motivation and your mental activity in a more healthy way. This includes number three, setting boundaries. We've talked before about work life balance and setting boundaries around yourself and having that harmony around what you do and being present when you're present.

[00:06:50] Being at work, when you're at work, being at home, when you're at home, being with family. All of these things are important. The fourth thing you [00:07:00] can do is set and determine realistic goals and targets. Have real ideas about what you can and cannot accomplish. Actually set realistic. Barriers and boundaries and goals for what you get done during the day.

[00:07:19] I've seen time and time again where people will load up their to-do list with 15, 20, 30, 50, even a hundred things on their to-do list, and yet at the end of the day, they've only got a couple of hours free during the day to actually get those things. It. It's an unrealistic expectation that they're putting on themselves, and if they simply look at the number of hours they have available, they'd be able to see that, but they don't actually plan their day.

[00:07:47] Instead, they stress out and feel constantly like they're not getting enough done, that they're not productive, they're not accomplishing anything when that's not the reality. They're simply trying [00:08:00] to put too much into a day that really can't handle. . If you focus on these four areas, then it can begin to help you bring some balance to your life.

[00:08:10] Again, this isn't to say that if you have something going on that you shouldn't seek further help, whether that's therapy, whether that's coaching, whether that's something else, But it does mean that you can begin to do some things even on your own no matter what. Thanks for listening.

[00:08:29] Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you like this episode on the stewardship of time, be sure to. For our stewardship of time tips series by going to inspired [00:09:00] stewardship.com/time or texting 44 2 22 time tips, and that'll get you our best tips on stewarding your time.

[00:09:12] Until next time, invest your. Your talent and your treasures. Develop your influence and impact the world.