Most of us find excuses to delay the work or to get our hands free from the work. But what pandemic had taught us is completely opposite. As the pandemic started everyone rushed to do something in their free time. The countless holidays at this time were like a vacation or can be called coronacation. Everyone got their new hobbies like cooking, painting, dancing, sculpting, and whatnot. As the lockdown keeps on extending, this time utilization was given the name "Productivity" which people took very seriously. To keep this productivity game going people started doing new things on a regular basis which used to keep them busy as well as bring some sort of enjoyment in such difficult situations.
Why everyone wants to be productive?
We are attracted towards busy life in such a way that being free is considered boring and doing something every other day is appealing. People need to understand that being productive is good but not being one is not a really big deal. Why does everyone have to do something and manage to post on social media?
Is this what we call an ideal lifestyle to stay busy in doing any sort of work?
The answer is No.
Reasons why people keep themselves productive:
* Fear of being left behind:
Work from home, heavy work, and free time utilization have made us believe in doing constant work. If we do any work regularly, we feel like we have conquered everything. Because of such thinking, satisfaction has completely lost its presence. Everyone has the fear of staying behind. If you miss doing work the first thing that gets on your mind is staying behind. This creates a panic situation for a person who is not capable of working regularly. There are many people who don't feel comfortable in their work and which ultimately breaks their mental tolerance.
* To conquer productivity game on social media:
There are countless people on social media who are constantly posting their daily activities. You see people posting work from home setup, cooking, gardening, and showing their creative side. It's very common now to see some home decor, creative work desk, or some craft stuff of people as soon as we open social media.
But the problem starts when you too hustle to be a part of this rush. Even when you are not in the mood you have to get up and do something to show to the world.
* Fear of making less money:
Money plays a vital role in all our lives. But losing everything to run behind money is surely not a good idea. People don't take leave in fear of cutting the salary of that day. You see people expanding their small business into a large one. Seeing this you try hard to do multiple things to achieve the same amount of success. Taking this extra pressure in fear of making less money keeps them in continuous workload.
It's ok not to be productive all the time:
According to the research, a 30% to 40% reduction in productivity can be seen in people who are depressed or are in other mental health conditions. So this clears out the doubt why some people don't do work every time. People in such condition faces problem in concentrating on their work which makes the productivity rate lower than the other people. On the other hand, if you are being less productive sometimes doesn't mean your mental health is disturbed. You being less productive can also be taken in a positive way as you are not giving extra pressure to your mind. This gives you time to relax from daily work which is a really good thing.
It's just the thing that if you don't feel like working, you should not, and it's completely normal. If continuous work or activeness doesn't give you peace, there's no meaning in staying active all the time. Stress and anxiety are types of mental health conditions that can affect differently to different people. Sometimes you may feel like not meeting anyone, sometimes you may feel like not doing anything. In such situations, you should know free time and holidays are not necessarily a productivity challenge.
It's completely ok if you had not managed to work out every single day. It's ok if you just want to binge-watch series someday.
Everyone wants a break from their regular work and consider this time as your break to just relax and enjoy. In today's time, we stay on phone more than in our home. It's obvious that we see people posting stuff on social platforms. But ignoring it can be also a way to help yourself. Look at the bigger side, if you cope at this time, or you need breaks in between you should definitely take it. Giving time to heal internally is important if you want to fly in the upcoming time.
What should you do?
To cope with the less productivity problem you should set small goals which will not create pressure on you and at the same time you enjoy doing it. Another important thing to remember is, stop comparing to others. If your friends are going to a picnic, you should not feel sad about it. You just go to your relative and enjoy yourself there.
If people are having fun parties, you can just hang out with your best friend.
If people are doing some extraordinary classes, you just learn new hairstyles at home.
If people are doing crazy home decor, you can simply clean and rearrange your work desk.
Productivity is different for everyone. If someone is utilizing time in something big, you can be productive by doing the simplest thing too.
And even someday you are not in the mood of doing any sort of thing, that's too is fine.
It's absolutely ok to be the laziest person sometimes.
Productivity works for some but not for others. Although you might be super productive and an active person. It's completely fine if you sometimes do not show activeness in your personality. You are not a robot, you are human and should live the way you want.