Do You Feel Guilty For Not Working?

“Guilt is banished through love and truth…” Proverbs 16:6 MSG

Guilt occurs when we have breached conduct or law. Personal guilt occurs when we breach a personal code of conduct, set by ourselves either consciously or unconsciously. Everyone feels guilty for an action or inaction, but we decide what they are.

When you feel guilty for not working, it may not mean that the activity you’re engaged in aside from work isn’t important, but you have placed it at a level below what your mind says you should be doing instead, which is work.

For example, I’ve discovered that I feel guilty whenever I do the following while working from home:

• Taking a long nap in the middle of the day (usually happens when I have poor sleep the previous night)
• Sometimes, taking a nap at all
• Intentionally taking a day off work and then realising at the end of the day that I didn’t do any work (this makes me laugh at myself sometimes)
• Playing with my daughter during work hours (I usually have the look that says, “Young lady, don’t you have something better to do with your time?” :D)
• Realising I could have done some urgent work instead of watching a movie (only happens when I have urgent work that I forgot about)
• Doing other not urgent and unimportant tasks instead of the real work
• Checking WhatsApp (fixed this with a simple productivity hack… #winks)
• Answering calls that I could have ignored
• Waking up late, which eventually affects the start time for work
• Leaving work too early for other activities (which are also important)

None of the alternative activities is bad. A lot of them are necessary. But because we have personal definitions of productivity which may not be valid, anything that goes against it leads to guilt.

We also feel guilty because we haven’t attached any worth to the other activities. Someone who knows that taking a nap in the middle of a workday helps them recharge won’t feel guilty when it is done. It’s a sign that you love yourself and the results you create. I always have to remind myself of this when I start nodding while working.

The next time you realise you’re beating yourself up because of work you could have done, ask yourself, “Why do I feel guilty about this?” Your answer will help you know whether you need to get more productive with your time or release yourself from a lie set by your parents, a book or your mind.