50. You Don't Have to Be a Productivity Superstar (Daily Special)
The internet wants you to believe you arenât doing enough with all that âextra timeâ you have now. But staying inside and attending to basic needs is plenty.
On the days when you have free time, when you have hours upon hours to get shit done, you might feel extra pressure to be productive. You might feel like you need to cross everything off your to-do list. You might feel like if you donât do the laundry and exercise and walk the dog and cook a healthy meal, then youâre a failure. You might feel like thereâs no excuse for slacking when time is on your side.
But you need more than time to be productive. You also need to be in a healthy state of mind â and if youâre not in a good place right now, you might need some rest. You might need to sit back and give yourself a break. You might need to go easy on yourself for a little while.
If you donât get anything productive done today, you shouldnât beat yourself up about it. You shouldnât feel like youâve wasted a perfectly good day. You shouldnât feel bad about what a screwup you are.
Not every single day is meant to be filled to the brim with activities. Some days are meant to be catchup days. Not when you catchup on work, but when you catchup on sleep, catchup on shows, catchup with friends.
You need to give up the idea that youâre lazy for spending the day on your couch. Youâre allowed to relax. Youâre allowed to give your brain a well-deserved break, especially at a time like this.
No, you shouldnât make a habit out of procrastinating, out of putting things off until tomorrow, out of lounging around when you should be working. But you shouldnât make a habit out of forcing yourself to go go go when youâre not in the right state of mind, either. You donât want to burn yourself out. You donât want to push yourself over an edge.
If work is the last thing you want to think about right now, that is okay.
If you arenât able to get anything productive done today, that is okay.
If your emotions are all over the place, that is okay.
But if you feel like youâre the only one who isnât taking advantage of their newfound free time, youâre wrong. There are plenty of other people in the same exact situation as you right now. There are plenty of people who arenât able to keep their minds focused, who arenât able to keep their attention on their work, who arenât able to motivate themselves when there are so many other things to worry about at the moment.
Even though you might be kicking yourself for not getting anything done when you have so much time on your hands, you need to give yourself a break. You need to understand that itâs okay if your confusion and disappointment and fear are getting the best of you right now.
Maybe tomorrow you can get yourself back on schedule. Maybe tomorrow you can get your motivation back up. Maybe tomorrow you can do something productive. But itâs okay if the only thing you do today is survive.