Why You Don't HAVE To Be Productive in Quarantine

Being Un-Productive is Okay Too.

If you’ve felt pressure to fill your time with projects or massive to-do lists, you are not alone. But News Flash: you don’t have to be super productive in quarantine.

You don't have to do what social media is telling you to do in quarantine.

Despite the stigma that is rapidly spreading about "working from home", stuck at home does not automatically instill in you soccer-mom energy, clarity, focus, and drive. (Trust me, I'm pretty sure not even the soccer-moms have everything figured out in quarantine) It is totally valid and normal to feel exhausted - mentally, physically, and emotionally - because hiding from a world-wide pandemic is draining .

The world has been having its way with you left and right. Feeling this ominous need to be productive should not be another stressor in your life.

Being productive is not a bad thing, don't get me wrong. But you should not let it get in the way of you enjoying this time to rest.

This quarantine may be the only time in your life where you can choose to be still.

Here's why you don't need to be productive in quarantine:

Hustle culture never stops.

Ever. Before, during, or after Coronavirus, people are always going to be working. And that is totally okay for the people that never get stressed out, but how many of those people do we know? (My guess, not a lot)

“There is a tendency in this country and in Western society and within capitalism to be self-critical, as opposed to being self-compassionate,” says Cynthia Pong, founder of Embrace Change.

We associate our self-worth with the amount of achievements we have, or how productive we are.

"If you take that away, there’s a void. And voids are so hard to deal with.”

If we take away the stigma around our achievements, our success, our productivity, what's left? That is a question many of us will avoid answering. We as a population need to learn how to let go of the superficial things that define our worth, and focus on the things that truly matter. The things we criticize ourselves for in order to push ourselves to work harder.

By constantly doing this, we aren't breaking that cycle.

Quarantine is a time to break your toxic-thinking cycle.

In order to stop the need to be productive and work hard every day, we need to break down the walls we built to protect us from the truth. That we are more than our success, than the money we make. Than the amount of likes we receive on a social media post. We need to be with ourselves. When we are constantly stimulating ourselves with the next best thing for our reputation, we are really shielding ourselves from the next best thing for our mental well-being.

There's a difference.

There's a difference between getting things done and hustle culture.

Sure, things still need to be done. The house needs to stay cleaned, the bills still need to be paid each month. But you aren't tied down to the outside world for the moment. No gym memberships, no new juice place to try with the girls. No more work conferences, no more parties. You are left to yourself, and that is a wonderful thing.

Humans like to set themselves up for failure. I truly believe we are wired by society to never be truly happy or satisfied with ourselves or our lives, because something better is always around the corner. And once you get that, there's another thing to work for that is even greater than the last. But that is just not true, and as we sit in this period of stillness and self-reflection, we can begin to realize that work is important, but it is in no way definitive of us or our lives.

So sit with me in this time of stillness, and remember you are more than just a "productive" person. You are a human being.