#celebratethesmallwins – dealing with dwindling lockdown productivity
March 16th 2020 – a day forever etched into our minds and the beginning of a new era. I don’t think that any of us would have imagined that we would be in our third national lockdown almost a year on.
Gone are the days of drinking whipped coffee, playing Animal Crossing, making banana bread and the sense that things would soon be better. All I feel now when I head out on my daily walk is a sadness upon looking at the now closed (some permanently) businesses that are the very soul of London, and a yearning for normal life.
Yet here I am, attempting to write about productivity in lockdown whilst wearing the same pyjamas I wore yesterday and eating a Daim bar for breakfast. Let’s be clear here: no one is working at the same productivity levels as they were pre-pandemic (apart from maybe 1% who I’m sure use the hashtag #mondaymotivation on Instagram).
The novelty of working from home has worn off, plagued by Wifi troubles and next door’s noisy DIY projects. Parents are exhausted by the demands of home schooling and keeping their kids entertained. Many elderly people are isolated and lonely. University students are frustrated by studying online.
We are all facing our own individual battles and, quite frankly, I’m beyond tired of being told that 15 minutes of yoga in the morning will fix my mental health and make me the most productive version of myself. However, there are some small tasks we can do to make working from home just that little bit easier.
Make your bed
Yes, read and repeat. A somewhat patronising and annoying statement to make but a key part of your day nevertheless. William H. McRaven, retired US Navy Admiral, former SEAL, and author of Make your Bed: Small Things That Can Change Your Life And Maybe The World, explains why making your bed is crucial for starting your day off right.
“If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day,″ he said. “It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task, and another, and another. And by the end of the day that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed.”
Tried and tested by yours truly, I can confirm that taking an extra 10 minutes to make my bed and declutter my room in the morning somehow makes my head 10 times clearer.
CTRL, ALT, DELETE
Social media, people you follow, people IRL. Whatever you have to do. Like many other twentysomethings, I am guilty of having an avid social media addiction.
Those nifty, (not so) little things we like to call smart phones actually allow us to see how much time we spend staring at our screens. If you type in ‘screen time’ on your phone’s search bar, you will be faced with the ugly truth to which none of us wants to own up.
Apple informs me that the average amount of time I spend on my phone daily is seven hours and 28 minutes. That is almost half the time out of my waking hours. If, like me, you face this addiction, it might be time to hit delete, at least whilst trying to get work done. Fear not! Apple stores all your info (scary, I know) in the Cloud, so if you become too much of a nervous wreck after half an hour and decide to reinstall, everything will be just as you left it.
Celebrate the small wins
The biggest and most important one in my opinion. It’s been almost a year since life was normal. A year without seeing loved ones, feeling that human touch, enjoying festivals, holidays and laughs with friends – all the things that make life worth living.
You managed to make it through and that in itself is a big achievement. Washed your hair for the first time in four days? Amazing. Tackled that pile of washing up that’s been lingering for a week? Go, you…. We are living in the ‘new normal’, and we shouldn’t be beating ourselves up for not living up to our pre-pandemic selves. We will get there, and slowly but surely life will return to its old self. Until then, be kind to your soul. #celebratethesmallwins