by Carol Gioia

Created on: June 20, 2007   Last Updated: July 31, 2008

Happy people are productive people. If one feels happy, productive activity is a natural byproduct of that happiness. The meaning of productive, however, is a highly subjective.

One happy person's idea of being productive might be another happy person's idea of being lazy. It would be difficult to measure another's productivity. Each individual has his own criteria for what he considers productive.

We all know people who are happiest when they have too much to do. They work eight hours or more at their career, spend their evenings attending events of their choice, make everything from scratch. These individuals keep lists and keep busy. Accomplishment and achievement are what drives their happiness quotient up.

At the other end of the spectrum, are people who consider making jello a gourmet undertaking. They pass time sitting on their porch watching the grass grow. These very individuals could crawl into bed at night thinking, "I've had a productive day," because just being happy is their idea of being productive.

Because productivity is a matter of perception, it cannot be accurately measured. Happiness, on the other hand, is measurable by degrees.

The following profiles outline the relationship between happy and productive and how an individual could exhibit one, or the other, or both traits:

* Productive Person

A person can slave away all day and turn out huge production. If he does not like what he is doing, he will not necessarily be happy, even with concrete evidence of his productivity. Many a workaholic is quite productive, but not necessarily happy.

* Happy Person

A person could sit and think all day about an impending project and formulate in his mind all the steps it will take to complete his project. At the end of the day, he could be very happy about the productive result of his thinking and planning, which is not even visible. Many happy people do not hold productivity as a high priority.

* Happy and Productive Person

A person who is content with whatever he is doing, and feels a sense of accomplishment at the end of each task, no matter how menial, is going to be happy and productive by his own standards. At the end of the day it is apparent that productivity is relative to a person's standard of what accomplishment represents.

No one can predict levels of production or degrees of happiness for another. If being productive makes a person happy, and being happy is considered by some as being productive, then the statement is reversible; happy people are productive, and productive people are often happy - all from their own perspective.

I conclude happy people are productive according to their own standard.

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