How (and WHY!) to Redefine Productivity During Challenging Periods

Photo by Airam Dato-on:

Being alive right now is hard. 

Being a productive person, who is taking care of yourself?

Even harder!

A few weeks back I wrote about 5 practical strategies you can use to help yourself cope when the world feels too heavy to hold.

And you know what? 5 strategies might not have been enough. We’ve all got different brains and circumstances and what I shared before may not have been enough, or you simply might need more options.

So, let’s get you some additional options because I don’t know about you, but I need all the help I can get these days when every news story seems worse than the last.

• Get clear on what you can control and what you can’t

  It can help to define what's within your control and what's out of it.  

  Here are a couple of quotes I find useful in repeating to myself:

  "If you can't do anything about it, why worry?  And if you can do something about it, why worry?"

  "If it's out of your hands, it should be out of your head."

  The only things you can truly control are your own actions and reactions.

• Shrink the timeline

  Instead of focusing on the long term (or worse yet, something I’m 100% guilty of: speculating) focus on the next hour, the next day or the next small win or milestone.

• Reframe productivity

  When times are rough simply staying afloat is productive. 

  This may not be the time to go above and beyond.  

  My definition of productivity, as you may have heard me say in the past is “doing what I intended to do”. So, you may simply want to intend to do less.

• Embrace “good enough”

  Honestly, this is my default view, but remember: 

  Good enough is not settling.

  Good enough may mean different things for different types of work.

  Often it takes just as much time and effort to get from 0-90 as from 90 to 100.  And often you're the only one who will notice the difference.

• Define your MVP (minimum viable plan)

  Define a simplified version of your routine for your toughest of days.

  What can you do to care for yourself at the toughest of times? Go to sleep early? Take a news break?

• Move your body (just a little)

  Even 5-10 minutes of stretching, walking, heart-pumping exercise can help you regulate.

  Can’t get to the gym? Try doing jumping jacks or squats at your desk, or taking your coffee break by walking around the block.

• Make decisions in advance

  Reduce decision fatigue by planning meals, outfits, or routines ahead of time. 

  Separate the planning from the doing, so that you have more mental reserves in the moment.

Look, yes, the chaos machine is moving full steam ahead.

But that doesn’t mean you have to give up, throw in the towel, or hibernate until this is all over.

You have agency.

You can control your actions and reactions.

We will get through this.

In those early days of COVID, things were just as chaotic. 

And I know you got through that. 

Or you wouldn’t be here, reading this now.

You will get through this.

You just might need to be a little more intentional about it.

We all will.