Productivity Under Pressure
Our society prides itself on doing more. We are always on call, check Slack before work, answer emails on the weekends, and more. Even when going into the office, we don’t always make the distinction between work and play hours. Now that non-essential employees are working from home, the line is even more blurred.
This pressure we place upon ourselves to be busy makes us feel like taking a break, or doing nothing, is bad. If you are not working, you are not succeeding. Add that to the stress we’re under during a time of quarantine and isolation, and you’ve got a recipe for massive stress.
So many people are recommending that we take this time to do the thing we’ve always wanted to, whether that be learning a hobby or finishing that passion project, or getting ahead at work. That’s great! If you’re mentally, physically, and emotionally capable of that right now. All those Instagram posts about getting creative and productive are stressful. It’s easy to feel like everyone else is writing their bestselling novel or painting their Mona Lisa. I’ll let you in on a secret - we’re all feeling like we’re not doing enough.
Our world is a bit crazy right now, and it’s important to remember that this is not normal, and it is temporary. We may not know when it will end or get better, but we have to keep in mind that it will end and it will get better. We are adjusting, but that is the beauty of humanity. We are adaptable.
I work best at a coffeeshop, surrounded by activity, people, and background noise. It’s so difficult for me to produce content when I’m at home. And now, not only am I at home, I’m sharing my workspace with someone else also trying to figure out a work from home system. It’s difficult. I feel strange working from home jamming out to my Spotify playlists with my entire household next to me, because I’ve gotten used to having our time together be separate from my work time. It’s an adjustment I’m still adjusting to. The pandemic has made me less productive, and when you really want/need to get certain items checked off your list, that stress slows you down even more.
To deal with this, I’m setting weekly, not daily goals (with the obvious exception of specific deadlines and projects I work on for my clients). More importantly, I’ve decided to cut myself some slack. Think of it this way, rest days are a non-negotiable part of exercise programs. Rest days give your muscles time to heal and grow. You get better results when you rest. This is the same principle I want you to apply to your work and your life right now.
You do not have to work more than you normally do, and you do not have to produce something museum worthy. Do your job, and then give yourself a break. If you sit in front of your computer, and all you can get through is a paragraph, awesome! A whole page? Pat yourself on the back. An outline of what you’d like to say? That’s plenty.
If you’re struggling to get anything good written down, you are not alone. Try your best, then take a nap or get a snack. I promise, you will feel better afterwards. Take care of yourself, give yourself permission to not accomplish the self-imposed goals in the timeframe you want, and take the added pressure off yourself. A lot of us (me included), put way more pressure on ourselves than we need to. Take a vacation from that mentality, and you’ll be surprised at how much easier it is to accomplish things when you don’t beat yourself up. Be happy with what you’re able to accomplish, take a little break, stop working when you’re not supposed to be working, and see what you can do when you’re not holding yourself to impossible standards.
You’re not alone if you feel like you’re not doing enough, but I promise you, you are. Hang in there, and take a nap.