The Controversial Secrets Of Productive Women

“Leaders bleed, period.” ― Silvia Young, My FemTruth: Scandalous Survival Stories

The Productivity Fraternity.

There are certain arbitrary signifiers that long ago, some random Kappa Kappa Productivity Fraternity decided to put on an equally arbitrary checklist against which all productive people are measured.

They decided “hard-working”, “productive” people wake up at the crack of dawn (hello, 5am club), then “ grind” and “hustle” their faces off the exact same level every day.

They decided human beings work on a 24 hour clock (which funnily enough is how long the male hormone cycle is), and thus and deviation from complete and utter grind would probably be down to the low caliber of your work ethic. 

Now, this is just what the Productivity-verse is: a fraternity.

Somehow, though, women are systematically gaslit into believing there is something wrong with them when they don’t meet these arbitrary standards.

But we’re not here to complain. 

KPIs For The Productive Woman.

Instead, I come to you with a proposal: the Productivity Sorority! 

Sounds fun, doesn’t it?

That’s because it is. 

Here, we sleep. We eat food that supports our hormones instead of fighting them. We can say words like “menstruation” and “menopause” out loud.

But most of all: we don’t measure productivity day-by-day. Instead, we measure month-by-month (or cycle-by-cycle).

Counterproductive “productivity hacks” from the man-overse. 

We know they mean well, but sometimes when people give advice, they are just repackaging their own experiences under the pretense that what worked for them will work for you. 

So today, let’s talk about some of the advice productive women might benefit from avoiding.

#1: Wake up at 5am. 

There is a funny endocrinological phenomenon that takes place between around 3-6am in the male body. At this time of day, the male body experiences a surge in testosterone unrivaled by any other hour.

It’s an interesting coincidence, considering the narrative that waking up super early is this superpower possessed by those who are the most successful people.

It’s also interesting that this phenomenon does not take place in women to the same extent due to their much lower levels of testosterone.

So…female hormones don’t peak at 5am? Nope.

And it’s time to stop acting like they should, just because the Productivity Fraternity says so. 

Importantly, it’s not to say that getting a head start on your day isn’t beneficial, but maybe we should start acknowledging that this looks different for those who have a month-long hormone cycle. 

For starters, maybe you can finally give yourself permission to wake up at 7am instead of the crack of dawn, and even to sleep in for a couple more hours when you’re menstruating. 

#2: Push through the pain (“stay hard!”)

Many women go their entire lives undiagnosed with serious menstrual disorders like endometriosis, PCOS, and uterine fibroids. Chances are you or someone you know is living their lives with a condition like this and “pushing through the pain” completely unnecessarily.

Instead of gaslighting ourselves, let’s advocate for our health. 

It’s not “in your head”. Your pain is real. 

(Problem-solvers, sell us a solution!)

The moment you start doing something about it is a moment of empowerment, not weakness or laziness.

#3: Hit the gym every single day. 

Here’s a crazy hypothetical for ya: imagine if every single month you had to regrow and then shed the lining of an entire organ. 

Do you think it would take a lot of energy? Do you think you might need more hours of sleep at that point in the month? Maybe fewer social commitments. 

It’s not a trick question! Shedding the lining of your uterus does take a bunch of energy. 

And…it’s not hypothetical. 

So why has being on your period become this competitive sport of “who can hide it the best”?  

Your body needs time to rest. I hate to break it to you. 

Just more stuff to do. 

There is a risk to going against the male version of productivity and following the approach that actually aligns with your hormones. 

In practice, it can feel like a lot of extra work.

It can feel like on top of having to worry about remembering pads on the right days, you also have to remember to eat sweet potatoes during your luteal phase (which requires you to both know when you are in the luteal phase and also remember to buy sweet potatoes), and cram all your high-energy, difficult tasks into the teensy window in which you ovulate.

Ah, the trials and tribulations of the “productive” life. 

Alas, the absolute last thing a busy woman needs in her life is an even longer to-do list.

(God bless her Notes app- we know it contains multitudes.)

No Woman Is An Island

The biggest myth the productivity world perpetuates is that success is merely a product of individual effort, when really successful people have dozens of supporters, mentors, friends, partners, and kind strangers behind them.

Rewriting the rules to being your most productive self is a big ask. So let’s start small. After all, productivity isn’t a competition.

You get to ask for help, lean on your community, and take one step at a time.

Thought To Action 

1. Draw Your Connection Map: Write down five people or communities—old friends, classmates, mentors—you’d like to reconnect with or better understand. Choose one and take a small step (message, coffee invite, honest hello).
2. Practice a Micro Habit: Pick something meaningful you stopped doing (writing, hiking, reading quietly). Commit to just five minutes a day — it’s the momentum that matters.
3. Turn Discomfort Into Question Curiosity: Instead of “Why did I fail?”, ask “What did this effort teach me about what matters?”.
4. Document Your Slow Wins: Keep a tiny journal of weekly wins — not outcomes, but efforts that felt worth doing (like choosing mindful reading over passive scrolling). Let this remind you how small actions accumulate meaning.
5. End With Gratitude + Intention: Close your reflection session with gratitude for the effort you showed, then set a gentle intention for the coming week.

Sources 

Here are some of the sources I used to develop the ideas I write about in this post. Three of them are books I have read in the past few years, which I revisited for this week. I highly recommend them all!

• Caroline Criado Perez – Invisible Women
• Matthew Walker – Why We Sleep
• Malcolm Gladwell – Outliers

Citation: 

Brambilla, Donald J., et al. “The Effect of Diurnal Variation on Clinical Measurement of Serum Testosterone and Other Sex Hormone Levels in Men.” The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, vol. 94, no. 3, 1 Mar. 2009, pp. 907–913, https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2008-1902. Accessed 10 Jan. 2022.

Criado Perez, Caroline. Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men. S.L., Harry N Abrams, 7 Mar. 2019.

Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. New York, Back Bay Books, 18 Nov. 2008.Walker, Matthew P. Why We Sleep : The New Science of Sleep and Dreams. 2017. UK, Penguin Books, 2017.