To Be Productive Or Not To Be Productive During This Pandemic?
To Be Productive Or Not To Be Productive During This Pandemic?
Whether you write or not is up to you
The Story Writer’s Path
Whether you write or not is up to you
I’ve noticed a trend in the emails I’m getting and the stories I’m reading. A few weeks ago, as we all began our lockdown journeys, everyone talked about productivity. How to work at home (my hub and I are navigating this as both of share space during the day for the first time), how to make good use of this time, how to do more and do it better.
But lately, the tenor of the articles has shifted. Now I’m noticing headlines like, You Don’t Have to Be Productive, and emails urging me to relax and quit trying so hard. So, what’s a writer to do? Work harder during this time, or say to heck with it and just loll about reading on the couch all day?
The answer to that question depends on you. Maybe you’ve been pushing hard on a deadline for your writing and now all you want to do is use this time to relax. Go for it. Maybe you’re so distracted by the news and all the emotions that all you want to do is read. That is just fine.
But maybe you are like me. In this fourth (fifth?) week of lockdown, I’m vastly aware of how fortunate I am. I am well. I am home with a loving family, and for the two weeks prior I quarantined with two wonderful friends. We have food and drink and toilet paper. I’ve grown adept at getting food delivered. Bonus features: two fat, sassy cats to entertain us, not to mention two small crazy boys.
I live in an area that has not been hard hit by the virus, and where most citizens are obeying the lockdown orders. I’m stuck at home, yes, but I can go for walks and the weather has lately turned beautiful so it’s a pleasure to get out. We meet others out walking and cross the street with a wave.
And all this good fortune makes me want to do something with it. Makes me not want to waste the time. Makes me want to create. Makes me want to make something I can point to in the years to come and remember: I did that while in lockdown.
So I choose to try (emphasis on that word) to be productive. Some days, I am. Others, not so much. What I’m also trying to choose to do is not beat myself up on the not-so-much days. To accept that what I’ve done is enough. That good is good enough. Again, emphasis on the word trying.
Wouldn’t it be lovely if we all came out of this time having shed the ideas that we’re never enough? And I think we can. Because one thing I’ve noticed about this pandemic is that it wipes a lot of the small worries out. Things that used to loom large (Oh my God my toes look awful I need a pedicure and geez I need a haircut too and I think I ate too much at dinner last night and nobody is ever going to buy my novel blah blah blah) suddenly don’t seem so important anymore. It’s weird, but I’ll take it.
Following, I offer several categories of suggestions: for if you want to be productive, if you don’t want to be productive, and baseline activities that will help you be productive if you so desire — and be okay with it if you’re not.
If you want to be productive
Maybe you truly do desire to use this time to write — but can’t seem to find your way to doing it. What follows are some suggestions to look at your writing a little differently. Change it up, see what happens!
Write about what’s in front of you. There are worlds to explore in your own backyard.
Write to a prompt.
Write flash pieces — fiction or non-fiction.
Write poetry.
Write haiku.
Write memoir, even a short piece.
Try something different: fiction if you’re used to non-fiction, non-fiction if you’re used to fiction.
Write about your childhood.
Write in total stream of consciousness — anything goes.
Write sideways on your journal page.
Lower your expectations — write one terrible page. Or one terrible sentence, for that matter!
Use a writing exercise (Google — you’ll find tons)
Daily log — Jot down a quick list of what you’ve accomplished. It’s okay, good even, to note things like, cooked a healthy dinner. I find I often tell myself I’ve not done much on any given day. But when I look back over my daily log, I realize I actually have!
Write Where You Are
There’s inspiration aplenty at homewritingcooperative.com
If you don’t want to be productive
Here are some suggestions for not being productive — yet still keeping up your momentum as a creator.
Read — inhale words. Writers can’t possibly read too much.
Be lazy. Lie in the sun if it’s nice where you are, or by a window if it’s not. Let your mind wander. Maybe you’ll come up with an idea for the Great American Novel. And, it’s okay if you don’t.
Organize old photos. Looking at pictures of your childhood may spark an idea for a memoir or a novel or a story.
Play games. Board games, card games, even games on your phone or computer. It’s good to keep the mind active in a different way.
Draw. Or doodle. Or knit, or crochet, or stitch. Or any craft or art activity that relaxes you.
Garden. Digging in the dirt is good for the soul. And we need things that are good for the soul right now.
Binge watch a good drama. If ever there was a time to not feel guilty for watching TV, this is it. If it makes you feel better, you can tell yourself you’re studying story structure. (And, in truth, you are.)
Do whatever makes you feel good right now. Because: pandemic. Enough said.
Baseline Activities
Something that consistently helps me feel good about my days is the baseline activities I try to regularly practice. Please, please, please bear in mind that these are meant to help you, not make you feel guilty or inadequate or any of that crap. They’re supposed to do the opposite — make you feel good. So if they don’t, then don’t do them.
I define baseline activities as those that support my writing (and my life) while not necessarily having to do with writing. For me, the big three baseline activities are walking, meditating, and journaling. (Yes, I understand that journaling is writing, but it isn’t writing writing if you know what I mean.) I endeavor to do these three things every day — even if it’s just walking around the block, or meditating for five minutes. I do them because I feel better when I do. I have more energy for everything in my life — including writing.
Choose your baseline activities. Yours might be drawing, or dancing, or gardening or taking a nap every day. Or a bath! Or reading or watching a movie. Yes, some of the very activities that I discussed in the “not productive” section above. Whatever, doesn’t matter, as long as it makes you feel good. And it actively contributes to keeping your mind at ease. Because when your mind is at ease, you’ll be clear and focused for writing.
Start small. A little dab'll do you.
Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t do them.
Be willing to let go. Maybe this isn’t for you. If so, no biggie. On the other hand, maybe you want to embrace this, too! It’s all about what works for you and this might take some experimentation.
And if you feel like you’ve lost your writing mojo, and you desperately want to get it back, as a friend just wrote me, here’s a quote I found that might help:
“In the first days of locking down, I felt as you do after trauma: language was no use to me. It has come back slowly, because it always does. I know this and I trust it.” ~Anne Enright, Irish novelist
However you are feeling I suggest that we all adopt the following mantra and repeat it numerous times each day:
I’m doing the best I can.
Because, we are. I am and you are. We are doing the best we can in unprecedented, historic times. And that is something to feel good about.