As we all sit around indoors and stew amid constant frightening news, you may feel a lot of pressure to be productive. There are people in your social feeds pushing you to utilize your time. This has led to some justifiable backlash, including from Taylor Lorenz in the New York Times, who wrote an article called Stop Trying to Be Productive, and Sunny Fitzgerald in the Washington Post who chimed in with It’s okay not to be productive during a pandemic.
But allow me to spark a backlash to the backlash.
Being productive can feel really, really good! Turning all that agitation and fear into a work you feel proud of is self-care! You won’t ever regret using this time well!
Now, absolutely: do what you need to do. Take care of your must-dos first. Many people are facing all kinds of financial and health precariousness and all kinds of horrific stressors. And let’s face it: basically no creative person is particularly productive at the moment.
If you need a break, take it. If your self-care involves staring at the ceiling under a weighted blanket eating Doritos I will be the last person on Earth to judge you. Whatever you need to do these days: do it.
But I personally feel at my best when I’m productive. Work is a form of self-care for me. Maybe I’m insane, but I suspect there are a lot more people like me out there.
Put me in the camp that urges you to push yourself. If you have the means, block out the distractions. Get that thing done that you’ve always wanted to get done.
Turn off your phone notifications. Block off your time. Power through.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll feel much better for it. So try to push yourself.
Just don’t beat yourself up if you can’t. We all need to be patient and kind to ourselves right now.
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Art: Maimåne by Nikolai Astrup
I am taking advantage of this time to do as much writing as possible. Usually, I work full time and only get a couple of hours a day to write. I know I have achieved things in the last few weeks I never would have if I had been working.
Productivity can also be helped by focusing on something positive for a while. As King Solomon one said (the wisest man who ever lived): ‘Be careful of your thoughts as they create your life.’
The pressure (imagined or not) to be productive can absolutely trigger depression if I’m not Getting Things Done. For me, sometimes the quickest way out of that flavor of depression is to find an easy win and take it. I might not be able to write 1,000 words of the Great American Novel or put 40 hours a week into the day job, but I can edit something I’ve already written or brainstorm ideas for a plot outline or change a light bulb that’s been out for a while or replace one of my kids’ bike tires.
Sometimes, that easy win is all it takes to get me out of my funk and try something harder. And when it isn’t, it’s still something I can point to at the end of the day and say, “I accomplished that today,” and that’s definitely not nothing.
Thanks for another great post, Nathan! You’re nailing the “writing in the pandemic” thing.
For me, I like to be productive when I’m dealing with stress. But I think the problem is more the perception of what productivness really is. I think it should be personal. What’s productive for me may not be the same as it is for someone else. And it could mean different things every day. For anyone struggling, who wants to be productive but can’t, check out Mel Robbins 5 second rule. It doesn’t help me be a productive writer, but it helps with other things. Don’t judge your productiveness against someone else. Just do your best. There is a time for everything. Even if for some of you it’s a time for rest, your mind may still be learning and thinking and perceiving… just a different form of productivity.
I completely agree. The best way for me to avoid stress is to disappear into a world of my own making, otherwise known as my WIP. I have full control there. I am god. If I don’t want someone to get sick, they don’t. Sadly, four months ago, I thought it would be a brilliant idea to release a trilogy all at once. They come out today, but once that madness is out of the way I’m gone, back into my next book.
I couldn’t agree more with you. Work is a form of self-care. I have written about “how to get the most out of a hard and isolated life” on my blog. Love of work is an asset at this critical time of the world’s history. I am getting the most out of this hard and isolated life by reading and self-sacrifice. Even in the midst of the present challenge I see an opportunity for greatness. Civilization has attained greatness when it is at the bottom rung. This will not be different.