Back to the salt mines: Vying with productivity in a pandemic
The way a pandemic can drain your creativity and diminish your ability to be able to pour outward and express is real. We are present in a paradox of continuously streaming negativity, despair and uncertainty, that we are being forced to consume, process and move on from. How is it fair for that to be expected of you, you may ask. It’s not.
Yet here we are, trying to get a grip on this new reality that seems too eerie to be familiarised, no matter how incessant it’s proven itself to be. For all of us who have had to exhibit the resilience to keep up with our jobs, our careers, and the pace of life, it has been gruesome, to put it mildly. It still is. Everyone has their own way to deal with, express and let go of grief. And since it’s so subjective, most of us are out here struggling to find and channelise our way for a release.
Our thoughts are all that we’re privy to at all times. And if they’re not safe, what do you turn to? Voluntarily pulling yourself out of dark space mentally in order to honour your responsibilities, is one of the most arduous trials of life. But it’s de rigueur. Unavoidable.
To keep up the charade of keeping obligations afloat, we resort to distractions with the purpose of shunning our thoughts. Ideally, that’s not what we should be doing, and we couldn’t care less. And this is what is drastically affecting our productivity.
Like most of us have already heard ample times, like depression, distractions at times like these too, will only lead to temporary relief. So how long can we as employees continue working with a mental shutdown? It is imperative to understand that this will hinder our progress and work ethic in the long run.
What we need to do is find our way out of the mental rut in a manner that allows us to regain productivity at work.
Setting conscious intentions
The primary step would most certainly be to set a conscious intention to do better, to want to work in our optimal standards. This would not only allow us to willfully direct our mind towards improving the quality of our thoughts, but also force us to keep pedalling, to stop feeling dejected. And yes, it won’t stop the dejection right away, no, but will surely begin the process. You’re guaranteed to feel lighter. Funny how most adversities loom in your mind as heavy thoughts, always wanting to keep you burdened by their weight. And trust me, while the idea of brushing it all away with distractions is tempting, you’ll soon realise that there’s only so much dust that the carpet can hold under it. When you decide to work with the weight instead, you regain control over your grief and get a better hold of your inner calm.
Find ways to optimize your work
By this, I mean, take concrete steps to drive efficiency in your daily tasks. This involves actively finding loopholes in the process, identifying the ways you could be doing a task in a much simpler manner. Critically examining your workday can be overwhelming because when you really get down to it, you might be alarmed by how many gaps you can think of! Working on those will help. It’s a proven fact that increased job satisfaction impacts employees’ overall psychological well-being including your sense of identity, health, overall happiness. I was dubious at first but turns out I can vouch for the truth in it.
Practising mindfulness.
We’re putting in all this effort to improve our productivity at work. Ironically the key to achieving that is by putting in effort outside the screens! In order to work more effectively, you’re going to have to spend your time outside work more effectively. And while I’m going to write about ways that helped me and why, please know that there is absolutely no structured solution. It’s about how well you know yourself, and how well you’re going to utilize that to improve your frame of mind.
Turning over to music
The way music helps me regain a balance over my emotions could very well be tangible. I can instantly sense a vibrational upliftment so the zero to one journey from troubled to tranquil becomes a lot easier. Music can help you to find relatability, and this is a passive way of expressing oneself through someone else’s art. We all have our favourites too. An important thing to remember here is we want to use music to improve our mindset transiently, and not as a distraction because in the long run, we want our own conscience to be driving our peace of mind.
Create
The best way to claim your sanity is through self-expression. Again, very subjective- it works in so many forms. At times like these, you can easily fall into what we call a creative block. Writers can find it difficult to articulate their thoughts, artists can be void of inspiration, and so on and so forth. So what now? When your natural craft is unable to help, you have but one option- to resort to any/ every form of art that can enable you to convey how you feel. It need not be a form of art, you can start journaling. Or scribbling across a random paper. It’s perfectly fine. The purpose is to pour outwards- your mind has perceived a tremendous amount of not-so-pleasant content as a by-product of simply existing with the internet and will NEED an outlet.
Embracing our state of mind — in its authenticity
We may try our best to voluntarily take all the steps towards freeing ourselves from the distress, in order to do our work in the best manner possible — but let’s face it, something else is inevitable. That’s acceptance. Understanding that this is how you feel, this is holding you back from functioning in your optimal way, accepting that your state of mind is detrimental to your work — only then can you take charge of it, reclaim your sense of control over your emotions, win your motivation back. There might be a slip-up. Or two. Maybe more, but let me tell you this — your state of mind is fleeting, and you will have to consciously keep working on thinking, feeling and being better.
I suppose that’s about it for now. Let me know if this makes getting back to the salt mines any easier for you!
You can read my write up here as well →
