The pandemic has hit us all in grave ways both mentally and emotionally. And with the recent lockdown, we all have come to a realization that it is challenging to be productive in these trying times. In fact, being unproductive is totally okay so you can properly navigate your way into taking good care of yourself physically, emotionally and mentally amidst this global health scare.

As strict quarantines are slowly being eased, entrepreneurs are slowly going back to their daily hustle routines while employees are slowly being asked to report back to the office to work. We are all feeling dreadful and anxious not only because of the safety and health issues we have to deal with every day, but also with the looming questions in mind of how are we gonna stride back into our daily productivity. You are certainly not alone, so don’t be hard on yourself.  Take it by the day, and try these simple steps as you try to go back to your daily grind of productivity:

1. Start getting some daily affirmations.

Affirmations are positive phrases or statements used to uplift oneself, instead of allowing yourself to drown in negative or unhelpful thoughts. These statements can boost your self-esteem, motivate you towards your goals and encourage positive changes in your life. This pandemic has maybe made you caught up in negative self-talk or hopeless mental scenarios, but if you actually put in the effort to focus on allowing yourself to heal and feel good little by little, wonderful things can slowly start happening if even just within yourself. As they say, there are things that you simply cannot control like external factors, but you can always focus on things that you do have control over, like your self-talk and mindset.

You can start with creating your own playlist of affirmations on Spotify that you can listen to during your drive or commute to work.  We are giving you a headstart  into building the habit of incorporating affirmations into your life with this playlist we created for you:

 

2. Get organized.

One of the key components of productivity is organization. Have you ever noticed how you already feel tired without doing anything yet when your workspace, projects, time and even thought process are disorganized? Merely having a cluttered work desk can take a toll on your creativity and motivation.

Now that you’re back at the office, it is best to build a habit of decluttering your office table for at least 15 minutes a day. It is best to let go some of accumulated paperwork or miscellaneous documents after a period of time, especially those that do not longer serve you in any way as they’re either already accomplished from way back, or are simply past deadlines.  Tuck away important files into designated keeping spaces so you won’t waste time looking and digging for them once you need them. Keeping your space clean and organized will allow you to focus more on the task at hand, thus, making you feel a lot more relaxed instead of stressed.

As for organization in your thought process, projects and time management, there are a gazillion apps developed today solely made to help you keep track of your to-do lists, mental notes and even self-care tasks. One of these amazing apps is Jour, the Oprah-approved app created as “journal for mindfulness for your daily self-care journaling”. The app was made to help you channel your bad energy into gratefulness and finally help you let go of bad emotions, so you can focus on your daily projects and business. Another app that’s been raved by entrepreneurs and creatives alike is Todoist, dubbed as the best to-do list app by The Verge. You can use it as an alarm for deadlines, track due dates, or manage projects, and help you manage all your to-do lists in one place.

3. Tackle your least desirable tasks first.

No doubt about it, the recent lockdown has piled up some tasks from previous projects, and most of them have become undesirable for you to do, especially since you are just beginning to pick yourself up from this pandemic. But believe it or not,  tackling down your least desirable tasks first can help you improve your productivity in the long run. We all have the tendency to put these undesirable tasks off. But every time we do so, they will continue to be on our minds, dragging down our creativity and overall productivity. So get them out of the way stat, and you will feel really good and accomplished afterwards!

4. Have some social media detox once in a while.

With the climate of headlines today, it is way easier for us to be dragged down by anxiety-inducing headline news and have our precious time stolen away from us as we scroll up our feed nonstop. While it is definitely a must to have yourself informed of what is going on in your society and be actively aware of what’s poppin’, it is also fundamental for your mental health to step back away from social media once in a while to have a little rest from all the toxicity of the world.

A study in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology back in 2014 stated that not only do Facebook and depressive symptoms go hand-in-hand, the social media platform has also started a psychological phenomenon called social comparison.  On a regular day, Facebook can give you depressing thoughts as you compare your life to others while browsing your feed, and you do not need all that now as you’re already dealing with a totally unusual situation that is this pandemic. As you take care of yourself physically away from the virus, it is also very important that you take good care of your mental health amidst all these chaos.

Aside from the social comparison phenomenon caused by Facebook, some news headlines on your feed can totally fill up your mind with draining thoughts, taking you away from focusing on your important to-do’s and overall goals for the day. Allow yourself to have a break from the toxic posts of social media, so you can actually focus on what needs to get done to have long-term benefits in your life. Not only you can have more time to do more and actually check off a lot of items from your to-do list, but you can also make sure you do not allow yourself to be exposed to factors that can cause anxiety, depression and overall mental health problems.

5. Nourish your body.

Taking good care of your body and mind may seem unrelated to productivity, but they are actually closely related. After all, how are you going to accomplish tasks without taking good care of the vessel that allows you to do anything?

You can start small by going back to being active for at least 20 minutes a day. Twenty minutes of daily exercise in the morning can do a multitude of positive impact on your body. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that adults should accumulate at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity 5 days per week, or at least engage in 20-minutes of vigorous activity 3 days per week. Daily brief exercises promote better quality sleep. A shorter quality sleep trumps a longer sleep of lower quality, and a deep sleep will make you more productive by the day. Set aside time for exercising the same way you would a conference call or business meeting. Also, according to a study by Neuropsychologia, just 10 minutes of exercise daily can boost your brainpower. The researchers found that the study participants who rode a stationary bike at a moderate to vigorous pace for 10 minutes answered questions 50 milliseconds faster after exercising than they did before, a 14 percent increase in cognitive performance. This improvement in brainpower can help you do your tasks more sensibly. More so, exercise can produce endorphins, the hormones that ward off pain and perpetuate happiness. And in this season of pandemic, you certainly do need those happy hormones to help you appreciate life more!

Another tip is to prioritize your daily nourishment. During the course of your day, make sure you are not dehydrated nor famished. Skipping a meal and not drinking enough water are simply counterproductive because such habits can take a toll on how your brain can function. Always make sure you have a tumbler of water and protein bars within your reach if you really can’t break away from your work tasks. You certainly do not want to feel sluggish throughout your day and drain your productivity down the toilet. Nourish your mind and body, and they will surely take care of you too and make sure you are on your way back to slowly performing and feeling productively towards your business or work.