Productivity: Filling Your Deficiency Needs
March 17, 2008 by Greg
With just a few days left in New Orleans, my temporary land lord moved us out from one house to another just down the block. The quick uprooting and added stress started me thinking on the basic human needs and the consequences of not maintaining them. This then brought up memories of learning about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in high school psychology class.
One tenet of most psych 101 classes is American psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Maslow, focusing on mentally healthy individuals achieving in society, identified common characteristics that he felt brought them their success. These basic needs of humanity, he grouped into a graduated level moving all the way from physiological needs like food, all the way up through the creative needs of self actualized humans.
One of the most interesting pieces of his contribution is the grouping identified as deficiency needs. These needs, while not offering an immediate benefit to the those who practice their satiation, offer instead anxiety when left unfulfilled. He is purporting that focusing on things like food, employment, or even friendship will not bring the pursuer any rewards, but rather will alleviate the anxiety caused by not having them.
These are invisible needs. They are daily activities that occur without much attention, because they provide little reward. However, when they go missing, unneeded stress results. So, I wonder, what deficient needs am I avoiding? What habits can I embody that would result in less stress in the rest of my life?
It sounds like quantum productivity to identify not only what you recognize as ‘needs’ but also understanding the subconscious needs at work. I’ll be interested to hear what you find.