Productivity and Quarantine: Why You Shouldn’t Expect to Get Everything Done During This Crazy Time

When I first heard that I was going to be stationed at home due to quarantine, my first thoughts were how much I was able to get done during this time (in between working of course). This would be the time that I would get to finally read all of the books that I’ve been wanting to read for a while now. This would be the time I would crochet all of the projects, and organize every inch of my house.

Needless to say, a month later and not much of that has happened. Well, let’s be fair here. I have begun some of those tasks — just to not to the degree that I would have liked. I have gotten rid of a lot of stuff, and I have completed a lot of crocheting.

That said, I began to beat myself up for not getting everything that I need to completed. After a while though, it dawned on me. We are in the middle of a pandemic. The death toll is rising daily, grocery stores have empty shelves for thousands of items, and we don’t know when it will be all over.

And, for people who are suffering from anxiety such as myself, it’s causing a lot of it.

Of course, I am not saying that if you are one of the many people working from home as we speak to slack off on the work that you need to complete for your job. I am not saying that at all.

I am saying that I think it’s important to recognize that we might not want to use this time to be super productive in the time in between working your full time job. 

That said, if you want to watch shows on Netflix instead of cleaning out your junk drawer, let that be okay. If you want to mediate instead of doing a HIT workout, that is okay too. I think it’s more important now than ever before to recognize that we don’t always need to be productive on the go machines. We can watch TV. We can cuddle with our pets.

So, if you’re beating yourself up for not getting too far into your projects, don’t. Use this time to remind yourself three things:

1. It’s okay to feel anxious and slow down to help care for it.
2. You don’t have to do all of the things. You can rest. You can play Animal Crossing. You can catch up and watch all of the shows. And, it will be just fine.
3. Don’t beat yourself for everything that you didn’t do. Celebrate what you did do, and feel accomplished, because it’s still progress.