Productivity hacks kill happiness, dead.

Have you ever felt so gripped by despair, so strangled, that you’ll do anything to fix it?

Just anything to stop the gulping black hole of your heart from wanting more.

Here’s why we think productivity will help us feel better.

You think: I’m unhappy because I don’t have the life I want. I don’t have the friends, money, body, or success that would make me happy.

Knee-jerk reaction: I should work harder to get the things that I want so I can be happier.

Most people default to the knee-jerk reaction and most people — like when going on a new diet — fail to stick to their commitments. Congratulations, on top of your previous unhappiness, you can now add personal failure and laziness to the list.

Look, feeling like you’ve failed is a mighty powerful part of life. It’s what motivates humanity to move forward, reinvent, and reach for the stars. Failing is not bad by nature, but it sure feels bad when you’re doing it.

So what do we do? We try to make ourselves feel better by becoming more productive. We give ourselves little tasks to check off on our to-do list and fill up our calendars with a manic schedule that allows us to say “Gosh, it was a tough week wasn’t it?” to our friends at Friday night drinks.