All of a sudden, without any time to prepare, we all have been shoved to our home. Since we are at home, we have made assumptions of right and wrong, good and bad. We have integrated a thought in our soul and mind that staying at home means we have plenty of time whether we have to do work from home or household chores. To cope with this snappy shift, we have created dip-sticks on our own. We have decided to be clock-perfectly productive, doing things on-time, practicing a felicitous morning routine, being focused and creative all the time, have to come up with outstanding ideas randomly and so on. In short, we have to be well-versed and effective at a time. And again, since we have assumed staying at home means we have ample amount of time, we have to astonish the world with our productivity and creativity by catching up with old and new hobbies or talents. It seems like a very competition with time, ownself and others. But is it? Do we really have an abundance of time only because we are at home? Let’s be calculative a bit.
Many of us are staying at home not just to relax but to do work from home, which means despite being at home we are bound to do our regular office work. Forasmuch most of our work-cultures are office-centric, we are rearing some extra norms and work to emulate the new normal both physically and mentally. In addition, as we are at home now, we are performing some inevitable households as well which might be avoided if we were at the office. We might get a hand from our colleagues or helping hands at other times but now it’s implausible. Now think, where is that copious extra time of being at home? Why are we creating mental pressure with the idea of staying at home means we have plenty of time and have to do more than the regular? Yes, some of us are doing many things now. But all of us are not going through the same life, everyone’s story is different. If someone is doing great in an area of his/her life it doesn’t mean you are doing any less. Stop feeling miserable by comparing yourself with others.
We all admire hustling and getting more done. So we set some unreal goals and deem to accomplish much more except having a proper count on the time we need to make out these things. In fine, when the goals remain unattained we feel melancholy, lost and our self-confidence gets flimsy. We keep slandering ourselves that we could not make proper use of time, be productive and at times even question our competence. But the reality is, we have never gone through something like this. We don’t really know how to get through this. We are learning and growing.
With this pandemic, we all have learnt one thing very well and that is the most important thing is our and our loved one’s health, wellbeing and happiness. The rest of the things come next. So don’t force it. At this time, if you are able to continue your necessary work with a good physical and mental state, you are doing admittedly good. This is more than anything in this situation. We don’t need to be productive and creative always. Weariness, frustrations and otiosities are the parts of human life. But it does not mean you have lost the game.
With the millennial mindset, we often feel guilty of having time solely for us. We are so into being productive all the time that spending a bit of time for us seems like waste which is not supposed to be. Give yourself validation and spare some time to pamper yourself as well. Because in the end, all of it depends on you and your well being. Have some guilt-free me-time, enjoy and relax.
Do the essentials, keep it minimal and spare yourself to enjoy life to go through the ups and downs of life headstrong.