Flow or productivity? Your body knows the difference.

Have you ever had one of those days where you get a thousand things done — writing, organizing, replying, posting — and yet, by the end of it, you feel empty? Not just tired, but drained, like something inside has been used up.

And then maybe, on another day, you do less...you write a single message, but you’re there, you work on something small, but with presence and by the end of the day… you feel alive. Clear. Nourished. Grounded.

The difference isn’t in how much you did. It’s in how you were inside what you did.

We live in a culture obsessed with productivity: more, faster, better.But let’s be honest — that kind of productivity is often nevrotic. It comes from the mind in overdrive, from a part of you that wants to prove something, to get somewhere, to stay in control and while all this is happening, the body stiffens. It disconnects. You might still get things done — because you’ve learned how to push —but a part of you breaks away. You’re not working with yourself. You’re working against yourself.

There is, however, another way.

A way where your work flows, where things move through you and where you’re not pushing — you’re present.

It’s not magic, it’s not a technique...It’s that state where your mind aligns with your body, where doing becomes being.

Psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi (yep, good luck pronouncing that 😅) described it in his book like this:

“Flow is the state where you’re so immersed in what you’re doing that you lose track of time. Paradoxically, it’s where you become more focused, more effective — and more alive.”

And that’s the point: It’s not about what you’re doing. It’s about how you’re doing it — and how much of you is there.

🔄 Flow vs Nevrotic Productivity — How it feels in the body:

Nevrotic Productivity	Embodied Flow
You force yourself to act	You move from inner cues
You ignore the body’s signals	You listen to them
You feel drained	You feel recharged
You carry tension	You feel presence
You rush	You flow

🌿 Conclusion:

Not all work nourishes you and not everything that nourishes you shows up in “results.”

The work that really matters is the one that leaves you more connected, not more exhausted.

Stop measuring the value of what you do based only on quantity. Start asking yourself:

“How do I feel while I’m doing this?”

Your body knows and it’s been telling you all along.

📎 Italian version → "Flow o produttività? Il tuo corpo lo sa".

📎 Embodied presence resources on → www.biomagia.it