You are not unproductive for pulling over, resting, and waiting.

You cannot keep driving down the highway if something blocks your vision.

Right now, being productive means refraining our dramatically changed goals. These days, I slumber in my soft blanket for hours -without doing anything. Every time I try to think of an article idea, my panic buttons overwork. How dare you think of writing when the world is deadly dark?

I dreamt of having a long time where I could curl up with an interesting book. I have a list of books where I would read one day. Now that I have the time, I don’t read.

Because these are not normal times.

I’m envious of people whose productivity has not wavered.

Doing many of the things I had not had the time for now feels like I am coming undone. Never mind the important things like writing, I don’t even clean my house like before.

Now, every single activity requires more effort from me.

Anxiety claws my heart. Every activity now feels like pushing myself through something too difficult.

You cannot keep driving down the highway if something blocks your vision. You can’t go on like before when you don’t know when you will be back to your normal lives.

If you don’t know what to do, if you don’t know how to be productive, pull over. Wait. Stretch your legs.

If you don’t know what to do, do nothing. Really nothing.

You’re not unproductive for pulling over, resting, and waiting.

I use these strategies to get up from bed and do one productive thing in a day. I hope they help you as they’re helping me as well.

Welcome any feeling

I listened to a man openly expressing the loss of his business in a supermarket the other day. I saw a 60-something man mumbling to himself in the middle of the supermarket. My heart lurched when I saw the old man dressed in an old shirt and shriveled trousers.

“What has coronavirus taken away from this old man?”

His face looked beaten. His pain-filled expression was like a sucker punch to the gut. His arms fluttered around. His legs wavered as he searched in the supermarket looking for items.

It was not a sight to behold.

He told us that his small barber shop has been closed. Now he can no longer support his family.

When I listened to this man openly expressing the loss of his business, I called him brave.

You and I cannot do anything if we run away from our emotions.

Anxiety. Panic. Despair. Worry. Terror. These emotions run our lives – if we let them.

Welcome any feeling in this dark time.

When your whole body is down because you have lost a job or your business has crumpled to the ground, trying to yank it into not feeling what it’s feeling is the equivalent of not listening to yourself.

Denying your feelings their right to be felt does not work. Our feelings do not vanish into thin air. They lurk behind our beating, blood-red heart of ours, waiting for us to acknowledge them.

Acknowledge your feelings.

If you need to mope, mope. If you need to cry, cry. If you need to sit by yourself for hours or days even, sit by yourself.

Sit with what you feel (which, I won’t lie to you, is uncomfortable as hell.)

“Emotions are but one category of the many different mental formations we can have. They come, they stay for a while, and then they go. Why should we have to die for an emotion?” – Thich Nhat Hanh

Survive this dark time with as much grace as you can muster

Resist the instinct to hunker down into a terrified ball. Instead, see what you can do for others.

Call your terrified colleagues. You help yourself when you help others. Send a hopeful email to your friends. When you do one kind thing to others, your mind will have the desire to do one productive thing.

Like I am writing this article to you.

See what you can do for others. Small gestures go a long way. Talk to a co-worker. Ask how you can help a worried friend. Write how you’re surviving this dark time. Tell us how you spend your days. Is there any productivity hack you use in this dark time?

Accept unusual developments

In a life that feels rudderless, aimless, maybe even pointless, it’s okay to accept the dramatic shift in your productivity.

These are not normal times.

You will be more productive as you accept your new daily routine. You will feel less blue. This is not easy. This is not instant. It’s not magic. It’s not linear. But it’s real.

To your inspiration

Banchi