Obsession with being productive and efficient?

I think I have many of the symptoms of OCD, but the main obsession I have is with being productive and efficient. Everything I do (even little things like walking to class or when I talk to people) I'm always thinking 'How could I do this in the most efficient way?' And anytime I have free time I think 'Oh no, I need to find something efficient.' I seriously studied for my last exam for about 20 hours straight with only like 2 small breaks. I feel like if I eat or sleep or hang out with friends I'm cheating myself. Has anyone heard of this? It really gets on my nerves sometimes. I searched on the Internet and there just isn't much about it (or I'm not looking in the right places). Maybe it's not even OCD; it's I feel like all my symptoms point to it.

Please tell me your thoughts: what do you think? have you heard of this?

Hello pdwhite, it's nice to meet you.
What you are explaining could be symptoms of ocd but only a professional can diagnose that. In therapy there are certain skills that you learn to lessen the effect that this would have on your life.

Welcome to psychcentral, if you have any questions or concerns feel free to private message any community liaison or moderator, here is a link to the list of the community team here, everybody is very helpful.
http://forums.psychcentral.com/showgroups.php

best thing to do in my opinion is ask a doctor. i know with my OCD i worry tremendously about things not being "perfect" and i become very upset if i think they aren't. i also like to be very exact in everything i do, and try to avoid doing anything that would render something "imperfect".

i also feel a deep need to "use up" things. for instance, i mark off the date every day on my calendar, in order to "make time go away". i also have a need to use up the ink in pens and felt tip markers!

the other thing i know about my OCD is that for some reason i feel my life would be completely "empty" without it. i cannot even begin to describe the terrible, blank emptiness i would feel without it. it "orders" my life. i'm not saying it is a wonderful thing to have, but my OCD has been the primary coping mechanism i have had for anxiety for years, probably ever since i was a child!

good luck to you!

Hi pd,

you actually sound a lot like me, which is really interesting because I never heard of anyone else with an "efficiency" thing either. i don't even usually mention it. but I definitely felt that way. like I would get annoyed with my husband if he didn't do the laundry or dishes in a way that I thought was best so as not to waste water or time. if I made dinner and sat down in front of the TV i had to go get everything i might possibly need (salt, extra glass of water, ketchup, napkins) in one trip because otherwise i would waste time going back for them. time definitely cannot be wasted! any free minute must be filled with something useful or productive, even if not enjoyable (housework, calling my parents).

it was strange too because I was doing a lot of work as a programmer then, when you're actually supposed to aim for maximum efficiency, right? I used to have a really great time working to make programs as fast as possible.

anyway if you don't mind it, it's not a problem. but for me (and i guess for you) it got really super annoying. as soon as i'd sit down and be about to eat i'd have to get up and get something i might need later and it would be SO AGGRAVATING but there was no choice. going on vacations was a huge pain, because it was so much work to figure out everything i'd want to do and the best time to do it, etc.

when i got diagnosed with OCD, and the meds I was taking started to take effect, my first thoughts were about how much more free I felt. I'm not 100% over it all but life has definitely improved.

esort

Yeah, I'm familiar with this feeling. since my symptoms have eased up, honestly I feel really weird and almost distressed. I don't know what to do. It's actually kind of depressing. I have a hard time working up the motivation to do things.

I assume this is going to pass and I'll figure out what I should be doing and when from other sources. But it's so odd not to have some little voice pushing me.

i definitely hear where you're coming from. i tend to view my OCD as kind of an "odd" coping mechanism for anxiety that i have not been able to substitute with anything for the majority of my life. sometimes taking an ativan helps, but if i relied solely on ativan to help me cope with the anxiety i feel most of the time i'd be a regular ativan junky! which is not a good thing. i take one ativan a day and that's it.

Sounds like a positive obsession to me-I do the same-always have something to do w/me-knitting/book in car/waiting in line....
be

I had anxiety and free time was something I never wanted! Keeping busy is much more comforting. Free time causes discomfort because then you have to feel your anxiety! Could this efficiency deal just be this exaggerated?