4 Ways to Increase Your Productivity When Your Mental Health Is Deteriorating
For days when you can’t focus but really need to
It’s almost crazy that we can be in the middle of a once-in-a-lifetime (hopefully) pandemic and yet beat ourselves up for not being productive enough. Yes, we still have bills to pay and homework to finish, and logging on to social media to still see the numbers rising six months into the pandemic is clearly not helping us.
Perhaps, expecting yourselves to be your usual pre-pandemic productive self is a bit of a stretch, but there are still a few ways to get some work done and still take care of your mental wellbeing. If you’re someone whose schedule has gone down the drain and you constantly find yourself working (or slacking off) at odd hours or if you tend to constantly worry about things, which affects your work, then this article is for you.
1. Make weekends different
The best way to get some routine back into your lives is by having a weekend/weekday balance. Try not to leave any work-related duties for the weekends and instead, spend this time relaxing or catching up on household chores if you need to. Plan an online watch party or a game night with your friends. Catch up on your favourite TV shows.
Basically, take a clean break from work. Ensuring that your weekend plans are different from your weekday schedule will help you stay productive during weekdays.
2. Write it
Journalling can be of great help when you want to clear your head, plan your days, or self-reflect. You could set a specific time of the day to write your thoughts. It doesn’t matter if it's on paper or a doc file — just go for it.
What specifically has been working for me this quarantine is to use a doc file, and whenever I feel like I’m getting overwhelmed even if I’m in the middle of a task, I would take a 5 to 10 minutes break to write whatever is going through my mind.
The best part of keeping a journal is that you can write anything — from short to-do lists to huge rant posts — and you don’t have to worry about other people reading it (unless you want them to, of course).
You don’t even have to be positive all the time; sometimes having an outlet for your negativities can also help clear your head.
3. Keep some time for self-care
And let me rewrite this again, keep some time for Self-care, not self-punishment. If working out 2 hours a day with intensive cardio, planning out your meals in advance, and taking care of your skin with a 10 step skincare routine is too much, just don’t do it. Instead, dance to your favourite music for just 3 mins. Take an extra cheat day and eat pizza. Put some moisturiser on your face. THAT IS IT. And, if that is still overwhelming, just watch Netflix.
Often, self-care is advertised to us in forms that seem unreachable, and trying to follow that (thanks again social media!) can feel so overwhelming that we get frustrated when we don’t see results fast enough. Working out for two hours is probably more beneficial than three mins of dancing, but if three minutes is all you can do right now, that is completely fine. Only push yourself a bit, don’t push yourself too hard.
4. Cut yourself some slack
Understand that not being productive on some days is okay. Make realistic goals and be flexible with your schedules. Don’t panic and spiral into despair if you miss your goals (it happens, I know). Instead, take some time out to reflect on the matter? Were you too hard on yourself while making your schedules? In that case, prioritise important tasks and focus on those only! Sleep an hour extra in the morning (if your work schedule permits it). Just make sure that you don’t sleep an extra 3 hours. I know this one is kind of a cliche, but it’s always good to remind yourself that slowing down sometimes is okay!
Note: The points on this list are actually things that I’ve been doing for the past month to keep myself somewhat productive. So far, I’m really seeing some steady results! Let me know if any of these work for you too!
