PRODUCTIVITY IS A FORM OF STRUGGLE

“There's a great difference between struggle and effort. Our physical constitution as humans involves effort. But struggle is effort laced with emotion and desperation.”

-Stuart Wilde, from Life Was Never Meant to Be a Struggle

I come from a generation where desperate is one of the lamest things you could be. Cue Destiny’s Child’s “Bug a Boo” and 2Pac’s “All About U.” So imagine my surprise when I realized I was functioning in the energy of desperation. Yuck!

PRODUCTIVITY IS A FORM OF STRUGGLE

By Farah Lawal Harris, 2024

Now before you label me a “pick-me,”

I live with an abundance of love.

But living with adult ADHD

grants me a seat on the struggle bus.

Struggle is doing your best,

but it's never enough.

Struggle is hyper-focus because

“I just need to get it done

and accomplish everything in one day.”

Desperation is speed-reading through rabbit holes

with 26 tabs open in Google Chrome.

To my ADHD mind,

I'm being productive.

But my spirit says

productivity is a form of struggle

when it forces one to ignore their needs

to achieve the vision of a corporation.

Productivity deprioritizes humanity—

turns person into machine

with the goal of correcting the past

and perfecting the future.

On this day, I reprioritize the present.

On this day, I breathe.

On this day, I prosper, treat my ADHD

as the gift it truly is,

a bridge to empathy.

Today, I choose ease.