It seems as though many of those around us are utilizing their time at home to pick up new hobbies while transitioning easily into life during a global pandemic. Although this is extremely admirable, you need to be kind to yourself instead of judging how you are coping versus how others may be. Seeing many users on social media being extremely productive may seem invalidating when we aren’t doing the same. With this, it is important to keep in mind that people tend to have different ways of coping. Whether one coping mechanism may be to become extremely productive and another may be to sleep, both are valid and approaches to cope.
Although it is hard to own up to, I have been one to procrastinate with tasks I need to get done and it’s just been highlighted due to online classes and working from home. At the start of the pandemic, I wrote an article about how to be productive while working from home and ironically, wrote it a few days before it was meant to be turned in. Something that keeps me going and keeps me positive is something my sister told me about productivity. She sent me a photo titled “COVID-19 Principles” that stated, “You are not ‘working from home,’ you are at your home, during a crisis, trying to work.” Understanding and distinguishing the difference is something that has been keeping me going through unprecedented times.
We should not feel guilty for not, “making the most” of the time we have at home due to the global pandemic. We’re called human beings, not human doings for a reason. Each of us are figuring out how to deal with such big changes as the ones we’ve been put in due to recent times. Learn to forgive yourself if you are feeling unfocused, unproductive, or scattered. We are entangled in a bizzare chaos of what is now considered to be the new normal.
So take a step back, relax, and remind yourself that what you’re doing is enough.
