3 Ways Escapism Can Hinder your Productivity

The world is full of challenges; sometimes we think we have it the worst, but when we learn what others have been through or are going through, we are astounded. Man’s worries are numerous, and the obstacles he faces stare him down, always keeping him boxed in or in a corner. The difficulties we face are special to our age, gender, family, and societal orientation. For young graduates in Nigeria, the most pressing challenge is getting employed. Employers say Nigerian graduates are not employable; these lots go through the rigors of schooling in an unconducive lecture atmosphere, poor and unhygienic hostels and in most cases unfriendly lecturers; yet they graduate and are labelled unemployable.  

Promising young Nigerians are taking to the life of crime; to them it pays. The old saying ‘what an elder sees sitting down, even if a child climbs an iroko tree, he would not see. This quote shows there is wisdom in experience. It portrays the era of good and efficient advice. When elders fail to be elders, children take the mantle; however, children take the mantle unprepared, hence they fail.

The troubles of life are indeed enormous, hence the need to zone out of the troubles to a better place. The tendency to create a mental picture of a better situation or an experience in the past or engage in something else that puts you at rest is called escapism. Escapism can be helpful as well as detrimental to our productivity.

Daydreaming

In trying to escape from the reality of our challenges or unpleasant experiences we tend to create a new reality which is of course a mental picture of where we want to be or what we would want to experience. Daydreaming keeps you focused on a mental experience you’ve created. It hinders your productivity by taking a big chunk of the time you would have utilised in working on tasks. Daydreaming can cause you to lose focus and forget about important information or tasks. Imagine being at work and daydreaming, it will definitely interfere with your work output by making you slow down or even stop working.  

Distraction

Many people get distracted when they try to shift their attention from unpleasant experiences by doing something outside what they were supposed to do at work. Shifting focus to other activities like going through Facebook or watching videos on YouTube is capable of reducing your productivity. Distraction at the workplace or anywhere negatively impacts your concentration, performance and generally productivity.

Procrastination  

Actively participating in escapism means you have shifted important tasks for the future. This continuous postponing and delaying tasks keeps you unproductive.

For this and much more Information relating to employability skills, employment opportunities, career advancement, and entrepreneurship development; Join our Telegram and WhatsApp groups, and also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.