Have you all been finding activities to sharpen your skills and hobbies to take up recently? Maybe you are learning a new language, or painting and baking, or even making dance videos on TikTok!
I am certain that every one of you reading this is constantly seeing news on the global issues we are currently facing. I am not here to further discuss the pandemic or raise awareness about it as there is sufficient information on it everywhere we go.
It has become human nature to feel like we constantly have to be going somewhere or achieving something. We fail to realize that it is completely okay to just let yourself be. You don’t have to be taking up a new course or learn a new language or work on losing weight simply because of the fear of being left behind or being out of place once the world starts running again. Sometimes, it’s okay to allow yourself to be a sleepy little human without any guilt.
With some hesitation, I decided to take some time off and be unproductive because no matter what I tried, I couldn’t find the motivation to get things done or inspiration to get creative. Initially, I felt like I was doing something wrong by not doing anything at all. Instead of creating a to-do list in my head, I let myself ease into the process and told myself I’d do whatever I felt like doing at the moment. Surprisingly, I found myself wanting to do more with my day rather than lying in bed on my phone the whole time. I started my day out with a workout, made myself some breakfast and caught up with a book I had been wanting to read. I did all this without feeling like I was forcing myself to get productive! I spent the rest of the day listening to some of my favorite music and going for a walk. I then ended my day by writing what you are currently reading. :D
What I learned from spending my day like this was that sometimes I’m so hard on myself and so focused on planning out what I have to get done, that by the time I need to get to work I feel mentally drained. I am aware that many of you here may have online classes and jobs that you need to do from home, but let’s be honest, there is no way any of us can manage to work for 8 hours straight like we usually would do when we are away. Home to most people is a place to come back to after a hard day at work or school, so it is difficult to find the motivation to put in the same amount of effort into work when our minds are trained to relax and rest at home. That is why I believe that we should take advantage of the fact that we are stuck at home having to practice social distancing and just slow down; get inside our heads and change our beliefs and habits that negatively affect our wellbeing.