Why some days you're productive and other days you crash and burn

Do you struggle with staying productive consistently?

I work with a lot of clients who know how to be productive, avoid procrastination, and the tips and tricks they need to use to get things done. But they still struggle some days with their productivity. Why is that? 

There is something else going on that a lot of books and teachings don’t talk about, because it’s connected to a different world of study of why some days you’re productive and some days you crash and burn.

There are some days that you feel pretty good, feeling like you are riding this wave of emotion, thinking “I feel great and I’m doing fine.” But sometimes something happens and you get triggered. This trigger leads to a reaction from your body. This can be something like a boss saying something, or having a request come in. It could also be related to your family. All types of things can be triggers, either big or small. This trigger can cause you to go up into hyperarousal. This can be you getting anxious, or jittery, as this is going into your sympathetic nervous system.

Sometimes when people are up in this state, they can be productive, but it’s usually an intense productivity. And depending on the person, you could be up in that state for minutes, hours, or days. But eventually you will crash and come back down into the parasympathetic nervous system, or hypoarousal. This is where the feeling of “crash and burn” comes into play. 

What does “crash and burn” look like?

“Crash and burn” can look like different things for different people, but it is usually an apathetic state where you don’t feel like doing anything. You might not feel like getting out of bed, you might not feel like tackling your to-do list, even though you put it together the day before when you felt fine.

It can be confusing to you to find yourself in this “crash and burn” state, especially when you were so productive the day before, and it can elicit a lot of emotions. This can range from yelling at themselves to having negative conversations in their head, and then doing whatever they can to get out of that state. But the problem with that, and why it can sometimes feel like a rollercoaster, is they shoot themselves up too far back into hyperarousal, and repeat the process again.

How to maintain your productivity

What we want to do for our bodies is to keep them in what is called “the window of tolerance.” Everybody's window of tolerance is a little bit different, and there are patterns that you can recognize in yourself that will let you know where your window of tolerance is.

For example, you might have a cup of coffee or some type of caffeine that takes you up towards the top of your window of tolerance, but instead of continuing beyond that by drinking more caffeine, you’ll regulate yourself to stay inside that window. There is work to do on yourself so that you are able to regulate or parent yourself, so you are not riding the waves up and down.

Windows of tolerance can change based on circumstances

If you are going through a lot of experiences, sometimes it feels like the window of tolerance shrinks and anything could set you off into the waves of emotion. The window is not a permanent fixture, but instead can change based on circumstances in your life. The window changes, how you respond changes, and even hormones can play a part in the fluctuations. 

So instead of trying to put activities or actions into your life or changing around your to-do list, try incorporating these practices and learn how to keep yourself in your window of tolerance. Because once you know what it looks like and sounds like, you can show your body you are safe and you can understand your body’s reactions.