About this episode
Productivity addicts! You don't have to burn your to-do list ... but in this episode of BEWILDERED, Martha and Ro explore the manic edge of productivity fever and how we can all come back to our senses—without having to ignore what needs to get done. Find out about "mixed pleasures," learn an exercise to release physical anxiety, and hear all the reasons why you need more oxytocin in your life.

Show Notes
Let’s talk productivity traps. Ro is trying to figure out how to balance her compulsive need to clear her to-do list with her conflicting desire to RELAX, and she bets many of you listeners can relate. Martha explains that our culture is obsessed with productivity; it tries to maximize human capacity in a way that’s far better suited to machines than animals. (Quick reminder that humans are animals. Rawr.)
She also recommends cultivating a body-mind connection with relaxation so you can bring your whole self to the table when you’re productive. Olympic competitors and high-performing athletes learn to move fast, be completely relaxed, and have a great time all at once. Martha teaches us not-quite-Olympians to find that same connection with an exercise to activate our parasympathetic (“rest and relax”) nervous system and reconnect with our bodies’ natural signals about what they need.
From the bewilderment of productivity fever to the beWILDerment of peace and responsiveness, productivity addicts will find this episode unmissable!
Episode Links and Quotes
- Allie Brosh, Hyperbole and a Half
- T.S. Eliot, “Still and still moving” from the poem “East Coker”
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Concept of “flow”
- Marathons and ketones
- Temple Grandin’s hugging machine
- Mario Martinez, “Fear and adrenaline versus love and oxytocin” =from The MindBody Code
- Geneen Roth, Women, Food and God
Credits
“Wandering The Path” by Punch Deck | https://soundcloud.com/punch-deck
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
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