WIRED: Some questions are infinitely more interesting than their answers. One such question started to echo around the internet in the early days of the Covid-19 lockdowns and has become increasingly frantic in the febrile weeks that have followed. The question was this: How shall we stay productive when the world is going to hell?
5 comments:
If I have to see one more social media post about how to be productive in these quarantine times I’ll scream. I think sometimes having options of things to do is good - but this is an incredibly stressful time and we shouldn’t have to feel pressured by it. I have had to miss a couple of online classes because of major headaches or WiFi issues. I feel incredibly guilty whenever I miss class, but then I feel even worse if I don’t do anything “productive” during those times. I think somewhere along the way I got hard-wired to always look for something to do, so rather than just being able to lie down and relax once and a while I can get through maybe one tv episode without thinking - ‘oh, I should be doing this, or this.” I really liked when this article used the phrase, “cult of the hustle.” Why is everyone around me making me feel bad for when I can’t be as productive. My best friend and parents have to keep reminding me that I don’t have to do anything. This is a global pandemic and if you can’t be ‘hustling’ you can’t do it. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
Oh my gosh, I agree with Elisabeth wholeheartedly. Sometimes productivity is not the answer. I believe that for my own sanity than to “spend time doing small, gentle things that make being alive hurt a little less” is exactly what is allowed in a pandemic. Personal health and wellness always come first, especially in a pandemic because if you lose sight of that nothing else matters. Additionally, currently, there is a widespread issue within the generation above my own with burnout. If you are always on, even when your mental and physical health is in jeopardy that is when burnout becomes a real problem. I think there is and will continue to be a sense of burnout within those who are trying to maintain pre lockdown working habits within the lockdown and I wonder what can be done to prioritize mental health above all. What resources will become necessary and how do we reset once this is all over.
This article has really opened my eyes to a culture of productivity that isn't the most productive in helping our mental health during times of crisis. I understand the need to stay busy, as I hate being idle and always try to find other things to do that eventually overwhelm me. Being idle has a sense of wrongness in our society, as if not working or 'hustling' is akin to laziness. I feel guilty when I haven't done anything all day. I make lists on sticky notes of things I want or need to get done every week in order to feel like I have some control over my life. But, after reading this article, I realize that I shouldn't feel guilty for not being productive, especially during these unprecedented times. I feel like a lot of us also attribute productiveness to successfulness, in that if you haven't been working and working, then you haven't been successful in your life. That is simply not true, but it is hard to remind ourselves of that fact when working in the face of crisis is the normal now.
Yeah, I pretty much agree with what everyone else has said. The only thing this toxic productivity has done for me during quarantine is make me sad. I thought this before quarantine too, but it's just intensified now. I'm just tired of people who are clearly pushing themselves too far look down on people who take their mental health seriously and know their limits. I think maybe that sounds bitter, I don't mean for it to. It's just that people seem to not understand that everyone has different limits, and most people cannot and should not spend every hour of every day being productive.
But here's the thing, why isn't doing things for your mental health considered productive? It's the most important thing you can do in my opinion. So I guess I just don't understand the point of making people feel bad for doing things that are very positive for themselves, whether that's making art, or not getting out of bed at all.
I’ve always been someone who based a lot of their self worth on how productive I am and how much I could get done; and it’s been incredibly difficult dealing with how hard doing even the little things for classes has become. Part of my understands that since everything is so turbulent and unpredictable right now, valuing myself on normal standards isn’t that logical and that it should be okay to take things more slowly and not be up to par all the time. But conversely I keep telling myself that I have so much time to myself nowadays that I need to use it while I can and not waste the opportunity. But like the article says, productivity doesn’t equate to healthy. The pressure to be constantly productive has definitely taken a mental toll on me before, and continues to in the face of a pandemic that’s uprooted everyone’s lives. I need to learn how to take every day a step or two at a time and try not to overload myself.
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