It has often been said that comparison is the thief of joy. Well, it is also the thief that steals your inner peace and can help feed your productivity guilt. Comparing yourself with your peers and those you admire is incredibly common among high achievers and others who suffer from productivity guilt.

This practice is also incredibly toxic. Each person is unique and has a unique combination of personality, talents, skills, experiences, and other things that both add to and subtract from what you can and cannot do. Comparing yourself and your performance to someone else is like comparing an apple and a banana. Both are fruits but the similarities stop there.

You do not know what is going on in other people’s lives. The coworker who seems so much more productive than you might be hiding a drug addiction. The person who got promoted right out of college might have an influential relative pulling strings rather than any genuine skill or talent.

That person who seems to have it all may be hiding depression. Or maybe the person does have it all -including resources you do not have to help them. The reason celebrity moms drop so much weight so quickly after having a baby is because they have the money to hire nannies, private chefs, and personal trainers and not because they are superhuman.

The person who is always at work early and stays late might be doing so precisely because they have no outside life and are trying to make up for that fact. Maybe he/she is dealing with a divorce or the loss of a loved one and working hard to fill that void. Or maybe that person is sacrificing things you are not willing to sacrifice. 

Likewise, the person you compare yourself with who is not doing as well as you are will have things going on too. Perhaps he is going through cancer treatment, or she has a special needs child at home. Comparing yourself in this way may make you feel superior, but it has no genuine benefit. 

We are all human. We all have different quirks, foibles, failings, and attributes. We all have different goals and skills. Our life experiences and access to resources vary greatly. 

These things make comparisons both ridiculous and harmful. So, stop comparing yourself to others. Focus on yourself and improving yourself instead. Work on being a better you and leave other people to be themselves.