The world is crazy right now.
Human beings are being driven crazy too I guess. By staying at home.
While everyone’s baking banana bread and fishing on Animal Crossing, I have a confession to make.
In quarantine times like this I still seldom let myself chill.
First of all, I am a full time student now so it doesn’t matter if I need to isolate myself or if it is public holiday. I still have the same amount of schoolwork and same lecture hours.
And since I vowed to myself I will not make the same mistake as I did in my bachelor degree by wasting my time on binge watching dramas I made strict rules for myself to follow in order to stay on top of the game.
It is also the opportunity cost concept I always remind myself – when you know you could churn out more content why would you be watching TV?
Don’t get me wrong, I am still glad that I have all the time in the world to do whatever I want now. Instead of picking up new hobbies like baking or playing puzzle, I have a few new project ideas in mind already.
So this whole pandemic, lockdown, social distancing thing that got people wondering 1) how to be productive working from home and 2) how to fill the void. In the first two weeks, more than ever, I was so obsessed with tracking my productivity. I even finished writing another blog post about boosting productivity.
But the ugly truth is that all the things I do on a daily basis or things I’m working on ain’t generating any economic value at this point. But I’m just working hard anyway because I know “one day” it will all be worth it. So this whole hustle culture is burned into my mind and I keep tracking my habits, finding ways to produce more content to gain online presence.
After listening to the College Info Geek podcast this week on “when to be unproductive” I think it’s time to sit down and think about my whole approach to productivity.
This podcast got me rethink and redefine the whole “productivity” concept and how it is related to happiness. Obviously when we talk about productivity there is ought to be an outcome – whether it be a product or a result. But do we work so hard just to show off the result (the extrinsic value as mentioned in the episode), or does the process or the act itself generate happiness that you would do it anyway even when no one pays attention?
In times like this, we should really take care of ourselves. Mentally and physically.
It should be the priority.
But I always focused so much on the time I have got to spend. Even when I suffered from PTSD last year I didn’t take any break. I jumped straight to responding on my calling and preparing to change my career path.
I never really stopped.
But now, it’s the perfect time to make a change. Our daily routines, schedules and habits were forced to change. We are actually in a clean slate now. This is the restart button we all have.
Sometimes it’s really okay to just chill at home, get addicted to Animal Crossing and be okay with it.
I’m still getting my head around this. I need to get some sort of value from whatever I do. So recently I’m considering actually to start watching anime to improve my Japanese and to “chill”. Not sure if it is a good idea. I welcome any suggestion from you guys.
After all, investing in one self – whether it be improving mental health, gaining knowledge, getting better sleep – has various forms and it’s vital to live a balanced life. Pandemic or not.
I hope we all find that balance and hold ourselves accountable when life throws us curveballs.