Why You Don’t Need To Be Super-Productive During a Pandemic
By: Antonia Le ‘22
It feels like from the very moment that COVID-19 forced all of us off-campus and back to our hometowns, there have been articles popping up left and right about how to stay productive during social distancing and what exactly to do when you can’t go outside. In fact, even Trojans 360 has published its fair shareof sucharticles, and that’s great! Having something to do can give you a sense of structure when the world is changing in unprecedented ways. However, because the times are so uncertain, it’s impossible for everyone to be at the top of their game. If you’re feeling bad about not pulling a Shakespeare and writing the next King Lear in quarantine, read onward for a list of reasons why taking a step back is perfectly fine!
Burnout still exists, quarantine or not.
According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, burnout is defined as the “exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration.” Even before COVID-19 began upending lives around the globe, there wasn’t one college student I knew who wasn’t suffering the effects of burnout.
People aren’t made to handle prolonged periods of work without a full break (and before you tell me that we just had spring break, I’ll let you know that everyone I know was doing some form of schoolwork over our break). This hustle and grind-until-you-die mentality that afflicts so many college students doesn’t necessarily go away just because we’re not physically heading to class anymore. Actually, the fact that we have more time to do things at home often increases the pressure and frustration, ultimately worsening preexisting burnout.
If you’re feeling yourself become unmotivated, maybe you have burnout, and you need to stop forcing yourself to hustle every single day. Let yourself fully disconnect and not think about your education for a few hours. Let your mind recharge after months (or even years) of hustling. There might be no better time than now to cure your burnout.
Mental health should always take precedence.
Maybe your stress is less burnout-related and more related to your current state of existence, whether it’s family troubles, money worries, or something else. Stress makes it harder to concentrate, and if you can’t concentrate, then you can’t exactly get anything done. In such stressful times, it’s impossible to expect yourself to go above and beyond in schoolwork, actual work, or any other “productive” task.
As a result, maybe the best thing to do during this time of uncertainty is to take a step back and use your free time for some self-care. Your mental health is more important than any item on a to-do list. Make your sanity a priority.
You often don’t have the same resources you need to succeed at home as on campus.
Back when I could walk around, I usually liked heading to the library or making the trek over to Pot of Cha to get my work done. I often found that my best work was done when I was out of my apartment, surrounded by other people. Now, because of social distancing and stay-at-home ordinances, that isn’t exactly possible. As a result, I can’t get as much work done as I would have otherwise.
Moreover, the Wi-Fi at my home is much less reliable than the Wi-Fi at USC, and it’s sometimes difficult for me to do work as a result. I know that many people share such struggles or have worse struggles as a result of classes moving online and all of the stay-at-home orders. Because we are now in positions where it’s more difficult to do work, we can’t be expected to be as productive as we would be otherwise. The increased amount of “time” doesn’t change anything; if you’re unable to get work done because your Wi-Fi is not working for an hour, having a little more time in the day will only make you break even in terms of productivity, not be more productive. As a result, don’t be hard on yourself for getting as much stuff done as you’d like to. You’re already doing so much under difficult circumstances, and that’s an accomplishment.
There are more things that require your mental energy.
Being stuck at home, there are many things that I once took for granted that I have to contend with now. For example, I lived on campus with roommates back at USC, and I’m currently living with my family again. Back at USC, even when I was too busy to hang out with people, living surrounded with people my own age meant that I had some form of friendly social interaction every day, even if it was something as simple as saying “hi” in the dorm hallways. In that same vein, when I was going to classes, I could pretty much take for granted that I’d be talking to at least one person that I wasn’t living with throughout the day. These social interactions are a lot harder to come by with social distancing. Now, I have to actually plan out Zoom calls and make sure things work with time zones.
These days, things like social interactions that we take for granted now require a lot more mental energy to seek out. As a result, we have less energy for learning a new skill or getting ahead on schoolwork. Nobody can “have it all,” and we have to let a few things slide somewhere if we want to stay sane. It’s okay that you’re not as productive as you could be, because you’re already handling so much. Be proud of what you’re doing, because you’re probably doing more than you think.
There are many different kinds of getting stuff done.
Just because you’re not being productive work- or school-wise doesn’t mean you’re not getting stuff done otherwise. If you’ve finally finished a season of the show you’ve been meaning to watch for a while but have never gotten to now that you’re stuck indoors, congrats! You did something! If you finally learned how to play a new card or board game because you need to entertain yourself, that’s great! You technically learned something new! We put so much emphasis on being productive that we forget to be proud of ourselves for doing something fulfilling! Moreover, doing something fulfilling that isn’t work is actually great for your mental health!
In today’s society, we put so much emphasis on the hustle and the grind that we forget that we should be enjoying our existence on Planet Earth! Guess what: doing something fun is still doing something, and in these times, it’s an accomplishment to do something other than eat and sleep. You should be proud of yourself for what you manage to get done, even if you’re doing it for fun, and not to get ahead in life.
Nobody could have expected a pandemic to hit during their college years. As a result, nobody should be judged (or judge anyone else) for not writing a novel or learning a new language during such stressful times. At the end of the day, you only live once, and if you’re trying your best to stay six feet apart from everyone else, then there’s no reason to worry about a lack of productivity.
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