Are You Finding It Hard To Be Productive During CoronaVirus Quarantine?

Almost everyone around the world is quarantined due to Coronavirus outbreak! Hope you all are staying safe and within the boundary of your home.

I don't know how to start this post. I have never felt so unproductive. Do you feel me? Are you going through the same?

Like most introverts, I am habitual of staying home all day long and hardly ever step out, but what I didn't see coming during the isolation phase is, we are not habitual of staying home with people around us all the time. And it's okay if you have people around you but it becomes irritating at one point when some people keep breaking their quarantine due to boredom and come to your house to break yours as well.

I had posted ways to be productive during quarantine two weeks ago (which you may check out here), but the isolation phase had not begun in India back then. I had thought it would be easy, at least, for introverts to stay home. I was wrong. Believe me, it's not easy for anyone and we should learn from this phase.

We, as humans, have inflicted immense cruelty on nature and animals. The only time Coronavirus outbreak doesn't scare me is when I see pictures of nature healing itself circulating on the internet. I love nature and I think we are getting what we deserved: being confined like animals in a zoo, craving to go out in nature while all we did is destroy it with all the pollution we could create, depending upon healthcare workers now while the doctors had to strike concerning violence against doctors some time back in India… the list goes on. Can we start believing in ‘karma’ now?

Anyway, my point for writing this article is not to speak about how Corona is showing us a mirror of inhumanity, my point is to speak about the unproductive days that we are facing, especially the ones to whom productivity matters a lot. I become frustrated, anxious and short-tempered when I don’t get the time to do things I need to do, mainly writing. Even writing this feels like a burden because I am in a chaotic mental state right now.

Photo by Kate Stone Matheson on Unsplash

I just want to say that IT’S OKAY if you can’t be productive during this quarantine. It’s okay if you’re not taking that online class; if you’re not listening to that podcast; if you’re not spending hours in the kitchen trying new dishes; if you’re not able to do things that so many people (including me) listed on their social media accounts about how to use the time of isolation.

We are all not just fighting Corona, we are also beating depression, anxiety, boredom, frustration and all those negative emotions that build up when we are clueless about what our schedule for the day is. A massive change has suddenly appeared in everyone’s life and it takes time to adapt to those changes.

Use this time to focus only on your health––mental, emotional and physical. It’s okay if your projects are pending, but it’s not okay if your anxiety levels are going up. By ‘we are in this together,’ people mean that we are on the same platform and everyone’s life has come to a sudden halt. Of course, some are suffering far, far more than we can imagine, but you have so much to be grateful for at this moment.

I read somewhere on Instagram: “If you’re staying home and saving lives, you’re being productive.” Isn’t it beautiful? Isn’t it relieving at some level that even if you sleep throughout the day, you’re making a significant contribution towards stopping the spread of the virus?

Cheer up, we can pass this phase, we can catch up with our pending tasks, but we cannot afford to let our mental health suffer because of constant self-loathing building up due to unproductive days. Let’s just pray for the world right now and worry about being unproductive later.

Also, please be kind to the women of the house or anyone who plays the role of homemaker. Their work has significantly increased while you’re enjoying paid leaves at home. If you can’t extend a helping hand, at least don’t bother them with useless work. Be cooperative and understanding.

Take care, stay safe, stay home and wash your hands frequently.

If you wish to write letters to God, you may check out my Letters To God prompts and workbook here.