Productivity During the Pandemic
Every time you think about something, your thoughts don’t just disappear into time, they slowly stack on top of each other until something is done about it. Either it’s through a mental breakdown in the middle night, or it’s through becoming mindful about your thoughts. These are the days of COVID-19, where people are stressing about what will be and already has happened.
As of right now, we are no longer given the luxury of seeing our professors and interacting with our peers. If you haven’t realized within the past few days, social interaction is something very essential to our mental health.
Now, more than ever, we need to take time to destress and maintain full control over our thoughts. “How might I do this?” You may ask yourself. My simple answer to that is: through meditation and prayer. The time that you were using to travel to and from work or school can now be used for mindfulness. Take care of yourself!
Before this transition to online classes, I felt as though there was no time to sit down and think about how I was feeling throughout the day, focusing on whether or not I was pleased with the day. I spent too much time devoted to getting things done and not enough time focusing on which emotions were evoked from doing those things. There were always excuses, distractions and apologies I used to ignore the fact that I did not meditate or pray that day. Some of those days turned out to be all right, but most were left in frustration and confusion, because I suppressed any emotion that sidetracked me from getting work done.
My “coronacation” did not start on a good note mentally. After a week of insanely forcing myself not to think and, instead, watch Netflix all day, I became very concerned about what I was feeding my spirituality and mindfulness about this global issue.
After reflecting on this, I came to an understanding that I needed to “get back to my original self.” I realized that I had so much time in my day to not only pray but also meditate while, at the same time, getting my work done. Ever since, I’ve devoted time to sit and think about my emotions and talk with God. This transition almost feels like it’s become my reality. Having that time in the day to reflect on what makes me who I am has motivated me even more to do the things that I am passionate about.
If you are tired of living in the constant regret of what you could have done and what you should have done with your spiritual life, now is the time to improve on that. It is not through restraining your thoughts so you can sleep better at night, but through constant mindfulness and meditation about how you feel. There are no more obligations and requirements to blame. Through all this chaos and fear, take time to alleviate the pressures on your mind.