Happy Thanksgiving! (Seriously)
I want to take a moment and tell you all thank you for supporting me and everything I've done with Nourishment Notes for the past nine years. It's been my passion project to spread love and joy while helping people personally and professionally. I'm very grateful for all the love and support for this blog and all the other related projects I've been working on.
Ok, I know that it's been quite a while since Thanksgiving. It is more than a couple months later. I've been meaning to publish this since then, and it's been tearing me up inside.
A few days ago, I read the National Geographic article, "Are You Procrastinating More? Blame the Pandemic" about how people are procrastinating more now with the pandemic. It's an emotional way of coping with the new and additional stresses that the pandemic brings. According to the article, “The pandemic has caused increased stress, anxiety, and depression, leading to more individuals [suffering from] those underlying conditions, leading to more procrastination.”
At work and almost everywhere else, I've seen people struggle with the fact that they're not as productive now as they were before the pandemic. As we all know, working during a pandemic is much different from how it was beforehand.
If you're working from home, there are challenges of working from home. You're home setup may not be as work-friendly as your office. Your home and family responsibilities overlap and may find it impossible to separate work from home time and tasks. If you're not working from home, there are challenges of having to adjust to the restrictions brought on by the pandemic and keeping yourself physically safe each day. All this is stressful, and it makes total sense if you've taken time each day to try to relax and rejuvenate.
If you're not as productive as you used to be before the pandemic, be kind to yourself. I am no way near as productive as I used to be, and even though I'm still coping with it, I've gotten better at it over time. I know that we need to be productive to a certain extent to maintain our daily lives, but it's not good to set yourself up for failure with unrealistic expectations.
Right now, a lot of us are just trying to survive, let alone thrive. It's okay if you're just surviving right now. That doesn't mean that you won't thrive later on. What's important is setting realistic expectations for yourself. With your daily goals, ask yourself, "is this doable?" If not, adjust them by giving yourself more time, extending the due date, or breaking them down into smaller goals over several days. Setting realistic expectations for yourself prevents you from setting yourself up for failure (which may add extra stress) and creating achievable goals.
So Happy Belated Thanksgiving! Be kind to yourself. Take care and stay safe.
Roderick Conwi writes about personal and professional development at Nourishment Notes. He is also the author of The Procrastinator's Quick Guide To Getting It Done. To get powerful insights to enhance your day, join his FREE newsletter.
