I know a lot of us are struggling to meet deadlines right now—or even to maintain some kind of structure or schedule to our lives. Working from home is challenging in the best of times, but right now we’re all struggling against a tide of bad news and fear and isolation.
For me, I’m staring down the barrel of several deadlines (I got my new A Lesson in Vengeance edit letter, for one, but also dissertation stuff!) and I know I need to get my act together if I’m going to get everything done in time.
I’ve tried to have some self-compassion, give myself a total day off every now and then, but it’s hard. I can’t imagine how much harder it is, too, for people dealing with child or elder care.
So here’s my question:
How are you getting work done during the COVID-19 pandemic? Do you have any suggestions for me or other readers?
Getting laid off was a huge blow, to be honest. Having finished writing a draft and with that, I feel like I'm in an odd spot of trying to figure out who I am WITHOUT work. So it's been a ton of offering small assistance to friends and writing down the things I've done in my bullet journal instead of going into every day with a set of to-do's.
Mostly it's a long-overdue lesson in self-patience.
My attempts at getting work done have been kind of chaotic because personal reward systems and things like that don't work for me and I have debilitating anxiety, anyway. So it's been a process trying to come up with something that works with that.
I completely get where you're coming from with trying to have self-compassion and struggling with it. For the first couple weeks, I tried to moderate my work, set a time each day that I had to stop work, even if I didn't get every single thing done (it ranges from 5 to 8pm, depending on my start time). I even took a couple days off, and tried not to hate myself for not being productive.
I'm not sure how to explain it, but for me, it sometimes just works if I tell myself to just get back to doing things in a way that doesn't invalidate how hard it is to do that. I take breaks (right now, I'm reading chapters of the hero novella between articles), or I'll talk to my partner, or go for a walk with my dog. I also tend to do some work on days that other people normally don't work. None of my clients work on weekends, so sometimes I'll write an article on Sunday afternoon so I don't panic so much about Monday.
The Pomodoro method also helps me a lot. I know you're supposed to work for 25 minutes and then take a 5 minute break, but I do 25 minutes and then 10-15 minutes or whatever until I get so into my work that I stop taking the breaks. Not how it's supposed to work, but it works for me. I'll also sometimes put on a playlist that lasts 1-3 hours and just say I'll work for the duration of it (as long as the music isn't too distracting).
I'm a full-time freelance writer, so I sometimes treat my work like NaNoWriMo. I'll do word wars with my partner, since she's on leave from work right now, I'll set timers...I literally wrote a Feverwake word crawl to get myself writing again, and it worked really well.
Basically, if I can intersperse the work I do with stuff I like, sometimes that helps. Other times I just have to buckle down and do it because games, tricks, rewards, etc. don't do anything. It's not a solid technique or very good advice at all, really, but it does it for me when I can't make working feel better.
I hope you're able to get done what you need to do, and that you find some helpful tips! Definitely continue to give yourself compassion—things will turn out okay and you'll get all the things done, even if your schedule changes. I'm not sure if that helps, but it's what I tell myself when I get stressed about time and sometimes it helps just to remember that things will get done, you know, somehow.
This week I've been struggling to make sure I eat regularly, and I had to ask friends to call me yesterday to make me eat lunch--it worked, and it was actually lovely to chat with a friend while making food. It helped keep my mind away from self-deprecating thoughts or from punishing myself for struggling to do such a basic task.
I think one of the best things we can do right now is recognize how hard this is, and that we may need some extra help, especially if mental health tends to be a concern even under normal circumstances. Setting a routine and trying to stick with it is good, but I'm finding it's even more important to practice self forgiveness when a bad day inevitably happens and I find myself having a tough time. So, maybe a good tip is to create a list of ways to get or ask for help when you need it. Friends you can call, breathing exercises, permission to walk away for fifteen minutes and lip sync terribly to a favorite song, or whatever lifts your mood.
(btw, I'm lulladiva on Instagram! I've loved watching all the live readings <3)
For me, I usually try to make some tea! It always seems to calm my mind when i’m disheveled in the morning. After that I try and do a small workout to get the blood flowing and my brain focused. Then I throw on some calm music, (with headphones to block out other noises), and get to work! It usually does it’s job and I get all my work done in 2-3! (school work that it). Hope it helps!!💞
ps. your live-streams on insta always help calm my mind as well :)
Oddly my writing is going quite well, a decent amount of productivity crammed into the spaces where the children aren't needing me, since they're all home as well, of course. But Twitter is a dangerous sinkhole of anxiety and if I go on there I can lose hours of productive time to constant refreshing and worrying. My writer's group has been a lifesaver; we've always been online only so there's someone around most evenings and we're keeping each other going with short bursts of focus and space to rant, so if you have a friend or friends you can do virtual write-ins with that would be my #1 tip I think.
Conversely, though, I'm really struggling with reading. Something about the whole claustrophobic situation has just killed off whatever bit of the brain I use to concentrate on a book.
With my routine so disrupted, I've really only focused on keeping the small things in place. (ie. coffee in the morning, tea at night, etc.) My brain slips away from whatever I'm doing every 15 minutes or so, so I have a list of various things to work on whenever I find myself sliding into that headspace.
My list for example:
-Organize bedroom
-Videos for work
-Poetry brainstorm
-Pattern drafting
-Meal prep
-Answer emails
And I'll pick whichever one catches my eye and work on it for 15 minutes minimum. If I hit a groove, I'll just go until I'm done or I get distracted again. The more I press myself to focus on something right now, the more my brain shuts down. At least I'm getting stuff done for 15 minutes.
My routine is pretty much the same. My writing group meets twice a month over Skype. I’ve done coffee dates over Zoom. I had a bit of a breakdown when a fam got their salary decreased since it’s our only income. The stimulus check only covers half my rent if I ever get it. I write in the mornings before family gets up. Working on edits for my adult SFF gets me out of bed. I rarely watch TV and write instead.
My day;
Get up/breakfast/feed cat
Write
Lunch break
Write
Chores like dishes/cook dinner
TV with family
Write
Bed
Of course it all is flexible depending on what is going on.
I'm just trying to plan what I have to do each day and force myself to do it... Like, I write down everything I have to do (whether it is for school or just things like laundry) and how much time I have for it.
I like to set myself dead lines and reward myself with f.e. chocolate or a episode of my favourite show if I meet them. But if I don't it's still fine, just surviving is enough in these times.
I hope everyone is doing fine and stays healthy through those tough times 💕 Hopefully this all ends soon
Getting laid off was a huge blow, to be honest. Having finished writing a draft and with that, I feel like I'm in an odd spot of trying to figure out who I am WITHOUT work. So it's been a ton of offering small assistance to friends and writing down the things I've done in my bullet journal instead of going into every day with a set of to-do's.
Mostly it's a long-overdue lesson in self-patience.
My attempts at getting work done have been kind of chaotic because personal reward systems and things like that don't work for me and I have debilitating anxiety, anyway. So it's been a process trying to come up with something that works with that.
I completely get where you're coming from with trying to have self-compassion and struggling with it. For the first couple weeks, I tried to moderate my work, set a time each day that I had to stop work, even if I didn't get every single thing done (it ranges from 5 to 8pm, depending on my start time). I even took a couple days off, and tried not to hate myself for not being productive.
I'm not sure how to explain it, but for me, it sometimes just works if I tell myself to just get back to doing things in a way that doesn't invalidate how hard it is to do that. I take breaks (right now, I'm reading chapters of the hero novella between articles), or I'll talk to my partner, or go for a walk with my dog. I also tend to do some work on days that other people normally don't work. None of my clients work on weekends, so sometimes I'll write an article on Sunday afternoon so I don't panic so much about Monday.
The Pomodoro method also helps me a lot. I know you're supposed to work for 25 minutes and then take a 5 minute break, but I do 25 minutes and then 10-15 minutes or whatever until I get so into my work that I stop taking the breaks. Not how it's supposed to work, but it works for me. I'll also sometimes put on a playlist that lasts 1-3 hours and just say I'll work for the duration of it (as long as the music isn't too distracting).
I'm a full-time freelance writer, so I sometimes treat my work like NaNoWriMo. I'll do word wars with my partner, since she's on leave from work right now, I'll set timers...I literally wrote a Feverwake word crawl to get myself writing again, and it worked really well.
Basically, if I can intersperse the work I do with stuff I like, sometimes that helps. Other times I just have to buckle down and do it because games, tricks, rewards, etc. don't do anything. It's not a solid technique or very good advice at all, really, but it does it for me when I can't make working feel better.
I hope you're able to get done what you need to do, and that you find some helpful tips! Definitely continue to give yourself compassion—things will turn out okay and you'll get all the things done, even if your schedule changes. I'm not sure if that helps, but it's what I tell myself when I get stressed about time and sometimes it helps just to remember that things will get done, you know, somehow.
This week I've been struggling to make sure I eat regularly, and I had to ask friends to call me yesterday to make me eat lunch--it worked, and it was actually lovely to chat with a friend while making food. It helped keep my mind away from self-deprecating thoughts or from punishing myself for struggling to do such a basic task.
I think one of the best things we can do right now is recognize how hard this is, and that we may need some extra help, especially if mental health tends to be a concern even under normal circumstances. Setting a routine and trying to stick with it is good, but I'm finding it's even more important to practice self forgiveness when a bad day inevitably happens and I find myself having a tough time. So, maybe a good tip is to create a list of ways to get or ask for help when you need it. Friends you can call, breathing exercises, permission to walk away for fifteen minutes and lip sync terribly to a favorite song, or whatever lifts your mood.
(btw, I'm lulladiva on Instagram! I've loved watching all the live readings <3)
For me, I usually try to make some tea! It always seems to calm my mind when i’m disheveled in the morning. After that I try and do a small workout to get the blood flowing and my brain focused. Then I throw on some calm music, (with headphones to block out other noises), and get to work! It usually does it’s job and I get all my work done in 2-3! (school work that it). Hope it helps!!💞
ps. your live-streams on insta always help calm my mind as well :)
Oddly my writing is going quite well, a decent amount of productivity crammed into the spaces where the children aren't needing me, since they're all home as well, of course. But Twitter is a dangerous sinkhole of anxiety and if I go on there I can lose hours of productive time to constant refreshing and worrying. My writer's group has been a lifesaver; we've always been online only so there's someone around most evenings and we're keeping each other going with short bursts of focus and space to rant, so if you have a friend or friends you can do virtual write-ins with that would be my #1 tip I think.
Conversely, though, I'm really struggling with reading. Something about the whole claustrophobic situation has just killed off whatever bit of the brain I use to concentrate on a book.
With my routine so disrupted, I've really only focused on keeping the small things in place. (ie. coffee in the morning, tea at night, etc.) My brain slips away from whatever I'm doing every 15 minutes or so, so I have a list of various things to work on whenever I find myself sliding into that headspace.
My list for example:
-Organize bedroom
-Videos for work
-Poetry brainstorm
-Pattern drafting
-Meal prep
-Answer emails
And I'll pick whichever one catches my eye and work on it for 15 minutes minimum. If I hit a groove, I'll just go until I'm done or I get distracted again. The more I press myself to focus on something right now, the more my brain shuts down. At least I'm getting stuff done for 15 minutes.
My routine is pretty much the same. My writing group meets twice a month over Skype. I’ve done coffee dates over Zoom. I had a bit of a breakdown when a fam got their salary decreased since it’s our only income. The stimulus check only covers half my rent if I ever get it. I write in the mornings before family gets up. Working on edits for my adult SFF gets me out of bed. I rarely watch TV and write instead.
My day;
Get up/breakfast/feed cat
Write
Lunch break
Write
Chores like dishes/cook dinner
TV with family
Write
Bed
Of course it all is flexible depending on what is going on.
I'm just trying to plan what I have to do each day and force myself to do it... Like, I write down everything I have to do (whether it is for school or just things like laundry) and how much time I have for it.
I like to set myself dead lines and reward myself with f.e. chocolate or a episode of my favourite show if I meet them. But if I don't it's still fine, just surviving is enough in these times.
I hope everyone is doing fine and stays healthy through those tough times 💕 Hopefully this all ends soon