Productivity and wellbeing: what’s more valuable, and are they mutually exclusive?

By Lauren Elias

The relationship between productivity and wellbeing is one that I regularly reflect on, and is particularly relevant to our Mindful Walking Project. A simple way to think, both about the defining features of these terms and their association to one another, is to assess the ultimate outcome that, as a society, are we driving towards productivity or wellbeing? Or both?

To attempt to answer this question comes down to what modern society really values. My intuitive answer presumes that, surely, health and wellbeing are the objectives of any society. And yet, contemporary research has focused on the best ways with which to increase productivity in all elements of industry, with efficiency and quantity of production at the forefront. This is often grounded in the notion that with greater income and quality of life from productivity comes growth in many markers of wellbeing; an association that is slowly being challenged. Whilst the evidence-base is a little murky in terms of consistent directionality, instead, wellbeing is gradually being recognised as a key determinant for a productive workforce.

If we take the ultimate aim of this Mindful Walking Project to be centred upon increasing wellbeing, in conjunction with being mindful about the present and future environment, the practice of slowing down, and being present in these walks, it fosters a greater awareness of how certain drivers in everyday life, like productivity, can sometimes hinder this aim.

By Lauren Elias

Looking deeper into global decision-making trends and the priorities that they address, we can see how wellbeing and the future of our natural environment, and the diversity that it has once encompassed, might not be sustained. In the name of productivity, many of these decisions are effected according to the value in terms of business and economic vitality. A quote that I regularly hear refers to productivity simply as a ‘matter of survival’ for businesses. And while this may be true, it appears as though this particular form of survival is being placed above that of biodiversity and human wellbeing. In many cases, industry focuses on quantity over quality. The food and logging industry provides an excellent example of this, where the true value of billions of years of growth and diversity in indigenous forests and soil is forgotten by virtue of plantations that yield efficient outcomes and maximize net value, but hold less diversity than a rural garden. Similarly, for human health, there is growing drive to make the most of the hours in the day. A crucial factor of this is the integration of technology in both our professional and private lives. The buzz of our phones with a heady promise of information in theory keeps us seldom bored, and always busy. And if busyness is the key to success in modern society, what happens when we slow down, and deeply hear, rather than simply listen?

Unfortunately, many modern societies have lost touch with the benefits to slowing down. But, the slowing of capital growth need not be the end of the world, if alongside is a focus on the broader transformation of modern society, with human wellbeing at its centre-point. And this concept is at the heart of our research. To slow down, connect and pay attention.

I think it can be a bit scary to truly slow down, but by taking part in mindful walking it provides insight into a practice that is beneficial due to its simplicity. Rather than focus on the activities that have been integrated into our routines for rational reasons, these walks serve as a way to think about habits that create a sense of connection, to both humans and the built and natural environment. We are trying to reframe the way we think about being ‘productive’ in terms of how we engage with the surrounding environment, and being present in the moment can be just as valuable in terms of time ‘well’ spent, and be equally valuable to our wellbeing. Something that will be integrated into the project is this form of reflection: What constitutes productivity for you? And who defines this? What sort of habits leave you feeling most connected to others and your surrounding?

Lauren Elias, one of the Mindful Projects’ Walking Leaders, wrote this blog post. Lauren is in the final process of completing her Global Health and Development Masters at UCL. She will lead a mindful walk this July and August exploring the theme productivity and wellbeing.