There’s nothing worse than a boss obsessed with productivity while working remotely, or an employee with productivity dysmorphia.

The concept of dysmorphia, born as a psychiatric illness resulting from a distorted body image, has been used for many years to refer to an idea very distant from this disorder, which causes excessive preoccupation with appearance. Hand in hand with mental health in the labor market, productive dysmorphia It eventually found a place in our vocabulary.

Broadly speaking, the concept of productivity dysmorphia refers to the feeling of being depressed due to lack of productivity in situations of work stress. A phenomenon that can increase anxiety and which, closely related to impostor syndrome, makes us believe that we are not doing enough.

What is productivity dysmorphia and how to deal with it

As with traditional dysmorphia, psychology understands productive dysmorphia as a change not only in our capabilities, but also in the results we receive, thereby promoting the idea that we fall short of expectations and that constantly we should do more to achieve them in a vicious circle that has no end.

It appears that those who work remotely are more likely to suffer from this because, in addition to the standardization among companies like Google, remote work productivity of their employees, although the main problems are different, they must also add lack of recognition permanent, which usually means office work.

This especially applies to the discourse of those bosses and managers who still adhere to the idea that formats such as remote workhybrid days or four day week

they are less productive than going to the office. Although the research that has been done points directly in the other direction, the problem of productivity dysmorphia arises from a level of demands that, despite efforts and achievements, is never at the right level in the mind of the employee.

Recent research on anxiety disorders reflects the need to combat anxiety. productive dysmorphia through main tasks for example, maintaining an updated list of completed and pending tasks to more clearly recognize the work being done.

In addition, it is recommended to learn to listen and accept compliments, to accept external opinions and, above all, to devote a reasonable amount of time to planning leisure moments just as we do with work, so that, in comparison, we are aware of the time we spend, we dedicate to every part of our lives.

Image | Gnedkov on the way

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