The Balancing Act of Doing Enough

Written by Max Harte

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          I was scrolling on Instagram the other day and saw a post that ended up sticking with me, despite the message being fairly basic: “Just because you could be doing more, doesn’t mean you aren’t doing enough” (Praisy’s archives). I reposted it to my story, and was shocked by just how many people seemed to need that message too. We have the misfortune of living in a society that sees people as what they’re able to contribute to the system, and not much else. Society’s most valued members are the most productive, the ones that can produce the most labor, for the lowest cost, in the shortest amount of time. Maybe you are someone like me, who sees this idea as minimizing the human experience, and also to be frank, a complete scam. But maybe you’re also like me in the sense that, even though you recognize this idea is harmful, it still controls you. Before we get into it, let’s set some ground rules. I don’t believe productivity as a concept is inherently harmful. It is nice to be able to get tasks done in a quick and efficient manner, rather than dragging them on for hours. Where the issue arises is when you use this productivity to push yourself to the limit, finishing tasks quicker just so you can pile dozens more on your plate. This is the situation I currently find myself in, hence why I’m writing this blog post, and trust me, I would not recommend joining me in trying to be society’s most productive soldier. 

          What I can tell you is that I wasn’t always like this, and to catch us up to the current state of disarray we’re in now, we have to take a brief stop at how I got here. School started off easy for me, it was a place of joy not a place of struggle. I was placed in the gifted and talented program early on in elementary school, and I have to admit being one of the smart kids was a big point of pride for me. Maybe the need for validation started there, but we’ll put a pin in that for the moment. Now that I’ve disclosed my GT kid status, anyone else who was in this boat can quickly see where it's headed. Middle school started and my whole sense of self was destroyed. All of a sudden I was a kid who struggled in school, and I hated that. I began procrastinating, too stressed to start assignments I felt doomed to fail, so I put them off until the last possible moment. Procrastination continued to be my crutch to rely on until I finally tried to kick the habit in high school. Like any other bad habit, I knew it was hurting me, but that didn’t mean enough to get me to quit. It took countless assignments done quickly and efficiently to realize that doing it in one hour instead of five felt so much better. By the time I graduated high school, I finally felt like I’d kicked it, and had learned enough about my working style to not get booted back to square one when I entered college. For the first bit, it really seemed like I had. The first year of transition into a new school, the year I tended to struggle the most, actually went smoothly for once. I had beaten procrastination, had a healthy work-life balance, and a healthy sleep schedule for the first time in years. But if that had lasted, I wouldn’t be sitting here writing this post, now would I? 

          What happens to someone who used to be a chronic procrastinator once they’ve mastered the procrastinating itch? They go to the complete other side of the spectrum, and begin trying to tackle more tasks than any one human was ever meant to do in 24 hours. Once I finally had my life in order, I had time to take a breath, and look around. Peeking into the plans of my friends and peers, it just seemed like the grass was so much greener on their side of the fence. All of a sudden, my progress, even though it was a lot for me personally, looked like a dying and patchy lawn full of weeds. It didn’t help that there would be family members who would come over and see the same thing I did- that my work wasn’t good enough, and that everyone was doing so much better than me. This is where that validation piece came back in for me, and maybe some of you can relate. My accomplishments were no longer about my personal progress, they were about how I could look better than those around me. Taking an extra class, trying to pick up another job, doing anything I could to build up resume material and bragging rights. I had unknowingly re-entered the world’s worst competition, the never-ending game of comparison. No matter how many new things I added to my plate, someone around me was doing more, or doing it better, or handling it all with more grace. My friends telling me about a new internship or a new relationship made me envious instead of happy for them. I was pouring everything I had into what I thought success looked like. I even began participating in hobbies with this not enough mentality in mind, as if after I hit a magical number of hobbies I had picked up, it would make me an interesting person, a whole person. Even now, taking 5 classes and working two different internships, I’m simply left with the feeling that I’m not doing enough. That’s what comparison does to you, shrinks all your accomplishments into not being enough. When I lose out on a job opportunity, I see it as concrete proof that not only am I not doing enough. But I am not enough. 

          While I wish I could give a perfect escape path to anyone else in a similar situation, if I’ve learned anything from procrastination, it is that a harmful mentality will stay with you long past its welcome. My most recent battle in the war with comparison has been going on for at least a year, and it's still not over. But here’s what I’ve learned in that time. 

1. No one’s grass is really that green

   1. Even those who are the poster child of success are struggling somewhere. Learning that my friends who appear the most successful on paper are fighting the same battle of feeling like they’re doing enough as I am was incredibly eye opening. We are stronger when we have someone fighting alongside us, that can expose the reality of suffering in their own lives.

2. Remember who your accomplishments are for

   1. A big part of my descent into the not enough pit was being pushed there by family members. While I want to make my family proud, this is my life, not theirs. If you build goals off the motivations of others, you’re basically doomed to lose steam eventually. This applies for people outside of your family too. So many of my goals were made with the main intention of making myself appear more impressive to others. My goals should be my own. Making my hobbies private has made them enjoyable again. I sit down to crochet, or play a video game, and I’m doing it for the sole purpose of relaxing, not to meet anyone’s expectations. 

3. Know your limits

   1. Sometimes your limits are something you only become familiar with in a trial by fire situation. That’s okay! Take what you’ve learned from your past and current experiences and apply it to your future endeavors. Keeping in mind which experiences were unsustainable helps me not to make that same mistake again. The hardest part here is communicating these newfound limits to others. Beginning to say no to opportunities or expectations put on me has been a hard battle, but I know it will be one of the most rewarding ones. 

4. Reach out for help

   1. Whether this is professional help, or leaning on a friend, or needing an extension on a deadline, reaching out for help is the kindest thing you can do for yourself. In fact, I  had to ask for an extension on this blog post due to how overworked I was feeling. Surprise, it helped! Needing a second to breathe is not a moral failing. Most people will prefer you communicate your need for extra time up front rather than falling behind with no explanation. While seeking out professional help may not be right for you at this moment, I highly recommend it if it is an option. Being met with concern instead of praise when discussing everything on my plate at the moment was one of the biggest wake up calls for me that all of my stress wasn’t baseless. Lastly, talk through it with your friends. The odds are that someone in your life is fighting a similar battle. This breaks the illusion that you are the only one struggling to feel successful.  

No matter what it is that got you to this point, feeling overwhelmed about what you have on your plate is a very real and valid experience. Despite similar life experiences, no one will know exactly what it is like to be you and what you are capable of handling. That is something you must discover on your own. It is normal to go through periods of stress from time to time, but you should not be making a home in your stress. You are enough, and there’s no magical benchmark of accomplishments that will suddenly make that untrue. Comparison is a sucking parasite that will feed off of you until there is nothing left and it will never make you full. 

References:

Praisy’s archives (withlovepraisy.a7) “your daily reminder :)” Instagram, 1 Mar. 2026, https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVTMqSDCPs3/?igsh=MWt6MzJsbGt2N2g2Yg==