Laziness is seen as a sin and working is seen as a virtue. But is being productive all the time actually a good thing? Is it even possible to be productive all the time? It’s okay to be less productive from time to time, and in this blog I’ll explain to you why.
Times change
In recent times, a lot has probably changed for you in terms of work, (mental and / or physical) health and / or leisure activities. We cannot ignore it: we are not able to do as much as we used to.
So, with the pandemic going on we have some more free time on our hands. At first glance, this seems like a good thing. However, this is a bit more complicated, since more free time also comes with more pressure. “This is the perfect time to learn Spanish, to do self-development, to read that one big book and to do all those chores around the house.”. On social media, ‘everyone seems to be getting everything out of quarantine’, paving the way for even more negative feelings and even more stress.
The urge to be productive
The danger is that the urge to feel productive and to perform is linked to how we see and think about ourselves. It affects our self-esteem. So if we feel we are less productive or not productive at all and therefore achieve less or no success, our self-esteem will decrease.
In times of a pandemic things don’t work out as well as they usually would. But why is that bar still so high then? Try to be less strict on yourself. We often don’t feel productive, but have we actually not been productive at all? It’s easy to look at the things that have yet to happen, or the things that haven’t worked out. Instead of looking at the things that didn’t work uit, try to pay attention to the things that did work out! What did you manage to do today? What have you already achieved? Praise yourself for it!
Do something non-productive
Doing more isn’t always better, and doing something isn’t always better than doing nothing. I challenge you to do something “non-productive” today; without feeling guilty for it. For example, allow yourself to watch Netflix without cleaning up the house in between, making phone calls, arranging other things and so on. Allow yourself to respond to your own needs and forget about your schedule or to-do list.
Tip: if you have the urge to do something for yourself, try to be very critical. Why do I have to do this right now? What will happen if I postpone this task? You will realize that you do not have to do it and that you are allowed to not do anything at all.
Tip: Create an event via NiceDay in which you allow yourself, for example, to do nothing productive for an hour and keep track of how it went on for you afterwards. Good luck!
