Why is it so hard to be productive right now? | Productivity in the time of the coronavirus

by Reem - June 07, 2020

Hi everyone, I hope you're well and in a good mental space
(well, as good as it can get right now)...

Is it just me, or does it feel exceptionally hard to do even the bare minimum these days? I like to think of myself as a sort of productive individual who manages to "get things done". I am actually known to be "Self-motivated" and I always seem to be able to push myself. During the days leading up to the pandemic, I had been extremely burned out and exhausted. The continuous stream of back-to-back lectures followed by a jam-packed schedule full of exams left me in a desperate need for a breather. I felt trapped; because, while I was aware of how over-worked I had been, I didn't have the luxury to slow down and recharge for the days ahead. Add to that my overbearing desire to always be the best version of myself possible, I was stressing myself out even more.

I remember thinking to myself, "I wish I had the time to sit down quietly and just...be." A few days had passed before the pandemic started taking over and we were asked to stay at home. All of my exams got cancelled one after another and I found myself watching lectures at home soon after. It was nice for a change, but I still thought it wasn't enough. I still wished for some downtime that I could have all for myself. I would think of a list of things I would do once I had the time, things like:

Getting back into painting.
Reading more.
Sleeping in.
Taking many online courses.
Just self-reflecting.
Making more YouTube videos.
Getting back into blogging more often.
Taking care of my skin and health in general.
Consuming more of the online content I enjoy.

When it was announced that finals got cancelled, I was left with so much more free time, finally! At first, I was extremely relieved and I finally had the time to sleep without an alarm interrupting my sleep, for once. I could take as much time as I wanted to do a simple task just because I no longer have a tight schedule to worry about. I started to pick up the camera and I filmed whenever I felt creative (which was a lot more frequent than now). I edited and uploaded some videos and I felt great at the time
(maybe not "great" but just a lot better).

That didn't last long though. When I started reading the news more and when I realised how long my stay at home might end up being, I started feeling anxious and worried about what might happen next, which threw me off and affected my motivation and mood in general. Needless to say, I started to work less, and soon after, I felt extremely unproductive because of that. I am not used to just passing the time without actually using it toward accomplishing something.

That was when I started coming up with little to-do's to tick off every day. I started working out to videos at home, I did some reading on the side, and it was okay for some time. But, the longer the days go by, the more unmotivated I become. This really frustrated me until I analysed my thoughts and tried to trace them back to where they might have stemmed from. I finally came to the conclusion that I often feel unmotivated because:

I tend to compare my current productivity to how it was before the pandemic, which I now realise is irrational and shouldn't be the case.
I look at the big picture and feel like I am not making any significant progress that measures up to where I want to be.
I put too much pressure on myself to be productive that it becomes paralysing and counterproductive.
I am not in the best shape mentally at the moment due to the constant worry and keeping up with the news.
I am not allowing myself to just... be.

What I should be doing instead (and what I am working toward achieving) is:

Realise that a pandemic is not a normal situation and that safety and health are the most important things that I should focus on the most right now.
Avoid consuming too much "Bad news" or, even better, news altogether at this point.
Understand that as long as I am doing my part (Staying home as much as I can and keeping my distance etc.) I am actually doing something effective by preventing the spread of the disease.
Come to terms with the fact that a clear "big picture" doesn't actually exist, especially right now.
Take it one day at a time. Just work on what's in front of me.
Try to enjoy the extra free time as much as I can, because time is going to pass anyway so why not enjoy it before it's gone forever?
Do the things I always wanted to do but never had the time for even if they don't feel "productive".
Focus on myself and not compare my progress to others' (including my pre-pandemic self's progress).
Read this over and over again until it is engrained in my brain haha.

If you have made it to the end of the post, I encourage you to stop for a moment and assess how you have been treating yourself lately. I also encourage you to be easy on yourself because, honestly, we're all trying to get by at this point.
Have you been finding it hard to be productive during the lockdown too?Tell me in the comments below
Stay safe & stay home
much love ♡

[check out my YouTube videos here]