The title is misleading. This isn’t going to be another post about how to be productive while working from home. There are already many of those (in fact I wrote one myself). Those posts are helpful when working from home under normal circumstances, but these aren’t normal circumstances. This is a post to say it's okay to NOT be productive right now.
So you are trying to work from home, you're probably spending too much time checking the news or social media, you’re taking care of your home or maybe other people, AND you're finding that you’re struggling to be productive? It’s okay.
Should I say it louder? IT’S OKAY.
We’re in the middle of a pandemic. This is all very overwhelming and uncertain. Most of us have never dealt with anything like this before. These are extraordinary circumstances. Be kind to yourself and understand that you cannot simply carry on with life as normal, because this isn’t normal.
I think many of us had big plans to stay home and be productive through this, perhaps even catch up on some things we just haven’t had time for before. I don’t think too many of us are actually being as productive as we’d hoped. It’s hard to focus on work when it seems like the world is on fire all around us. Keep in mind that things are evolving rapidly. Even if you and your supervisor talked about how to be productive last week, that may not apply to this week. Some of us will have family and friends that fall ill or be hospitalized, even some of us will fall ill ourselves or be hospitalized. Things are changing day by day, hour by hour.
There has been a lot of advice floating around, here’s my take on it. From one grad student to another:
1. Remember that we’re all struggling through this together. We’re facing this challenge in our own unique ways, but it is the same big scary monster that we’re all fighting.
2. Keeping a routine is good for mental health, but absolutely deviate from your schedule if you feel it’s what’s best for you right now. Take an extra day off if you need to, work on a weekend if your research helps distract you and keep you happy. Do what works for you.
3. Talk to your friends, family, coworkers. Attend virtual lab meetings, seminars, social events. Call people on the phone to check in. Send kind messages through social media or text. Let’s all support each other. Physical distancing, not social distancing.
4. Take microbreaks, and get exercise. Stretch, do push-ups, do 15 minutes of yoga, run around the block. Get your blood flowing. Stay healthy.
5. Stay informed, but avoid checking the news every 5 minutes. Check the news once or twice a day, there’s really no reason to check it more than that. But again, do what’s best for you. My mental health was suffering from reading the news so much, so I’ve cut back a lot.
6. Find what calms you and do more of that. For me, I’ve been going for walks around the neighbourhood, colouring, knitting, journalling, playing board games, playing with our cat, taking long baths, and calling friends and family to check in.
7. For heaven’s sake be kind to yourself. Don’t beat yourself up if your productivity is at an all-time low. This is to be expected. Communicate with your supervisor, tell them how you feel. If they aren’t understanding, if they expect you to be working at 100% productivity every day, then frankly, screw them.
The goal here is not to come out of this crisis with completed theses, submitted manuscripts, perfectly organized data, brilliantly home-schooled children, and spotlessly clean homes, the goal is to SURVIVE. Each day, get up and do what you need to do to survive. Help others do the same. Surviving is all we need to do right now. Work on your thesis if that helps you survive, if it doesn’t, then it can wait.
Take care of yourselves & stay safe.
Here are some resources that I'm using during these difficult times:
Podcasts or YouTube videos by Tara Brach, psychologist and meditation teacher.
The podcast episode titled, "Pandemic Panic" from the CNN Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction podcast with Dr. Deepak Chopra and Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Down Dog yoga app (free for students/educators until July, free for everyone else until April).
Online communities (especially Facebook groups). I’m in two: Caremongering group for my area and a group called Silver Linings. The Caremongering group provides helpful info about my local area (e.g. local businesses offering delivery, folks offering to grocery shop). The Silver Linings group is a place to share positive stories, jokes, and photos.
Counselling services. I haven't used them yet but I always know this is an option. Many counsellors can be reached by phone or email. Your university may offer counselling services.
This website has some good resources, including free meditations, articles, and advice.
I’ve been printing adult colouring pages and working on those. I find it meditative. I just search for them online, I don’t have a specific resource.
P.S. Please reach out if you need someone to chat to or if you need some cute cat videos.