Read on Twitter
For those of you who have been following along, you know I do not like (read: DO NOT AT ALL LIKE) "productivity" pieces. Especially right now. In fact I wrote about that: https://katieroseguestpryal.com/2020/04/20/where-the-terror-lies-productivity-covid/ HOWEVER: 1/
I just read a #pandemicproductivity piece that literally made me cry. I might post a teary selfie as proof, but this isn't about me. It's about @ProfAishaAhmad's quietly amazing piece in @chroniclevitae that I just finished reading this a.m. 2/
"How to Salvage a Disastrous Day in Your Covid-19 House Arrest," available here, no paywall: https://chroniclevitae.com/news/2339-how-to-salvage-a-disastrous-day-in-your-covid-19-house-arrest?cid=VTEVPMSED1 3/
Time for a live-read over Twitter. I haven't done this in a while. First, some context Ahmad wrote on a similar topic a while back for CHE, and her piece inspired my own essay linked above ( https://www.chronicle.com/article/Why-You-Should-Ignore-All-That/248366). She talked about her experience living in war zones... 4/
5/ ...how the world shifts, how "Global catastrophes change the world, & this pandemic is very much akin to a major war," & she is speaking from experience. Because the world has shifted, "The emotionally & spiritually sane response is to prepare to be forever changed." 5/
Don't wait for things to return to "normal." They're not going to. Just now, I was in the kitchen. My husband had the TV on, and I watched commercials (LOL) and noticed how every ad had changed—all were taking the pandemic into account... 6/
Here's one of the ones I saw, from Carvana—basically their same service, shifted for our new reality. https://www.ispot.tv/ad/nkej/carvana-keep-moving. And I wondered, will we shift back? I thought, with uncharacteristic optimism (for me), perhaps some things will be better? 7/
Back to "How to Salvage a Disastrous Day in Your Covid-19 House Arrest," here: https://chroniclevitae.com/news/2339-how-to-salvage-a-disastrous-day-in-your-covid-19-house-arrest?cid=VTEVPMSED1, which is full of things that I really needed to read this morning, and perhaps you do too. 8/
The opening of @profaishaahmad's piece: "A month into it, are we "improving" or "failing" at crisis adaptation?" Her answer: "Having lived and worked under sustained disaster conditions in many places, ...9/
...I can assure you that that question is ridiculous. Crisis adaptation is not a linear, upward trajectory toward productivity and happiness."
OK, maybe you already figured that out logically. But I'm betting your hindbrain hasn't. "Why haven't things gotten easier?" -me 10/
OK, maybe you already figured that out logically. But I'm betting your hindbrain hasn't. "Why haven't things gotten easier?" -me 10/
Reading this the second time, I absolutely love this line: "For newcomers to crisis living, I’ll share some of my strategies here that may be of benefit."
Perhaps the first step to recognizing our problem is to recognize "crisis living" is happening in the first place. 11/
Perhaps the first step to recognizing our problem is to recognize "crisis living" is happening in the first place. 11/
Here's the situation Ahmad takes on: Your day has tanked. It's 3pm and your still a zombie in your PJs. What do you do? "In my experience, successful crisis adaptation requires a flexible approach that allows you to reboot and reimagine your process in real time." /12
*hiatus, phone call*
I'm back. Ahmad is helping us salvage a day that has spiraled to "rock bottom" at 3pm. First piece of advice: "First, turn off all of your devices and screens. No news. No cellphones. Nothing." OK, usually I wouldn't buy this, I love my screens. BUT: I feel this in my bones. 14/
Then: Do small things that will make you feel better, like shower, get dressed, and eat. Seems so simple. You know, by now, that it isn't. Ahmad writes: " Your feelings will follow your actions. Just do it." 15/
She has more advice to help mend your brain, things that I have done in other times of more private crises, which is perhaps why the words resonated with me so much. Next: 16/
"If you had planned to launch an ambitious new theoretical project today, scratch it. Bump such projects until tomorrow."
Yes, also seems obvious. So why are we (am I??) not doing this? Or feeling guilty when I do. I can't be the only one feeling guilty. 17/
Yes, also seems obvious. So why are we (am I??) not doing this? Or feeling guilty when I do. I can't be the only one feeling guilty. 17/
The point of all of this? "The goal is to end the slump and re-establish stability."
I can definitely get behind strategies to re-find stability in our unstable world. Especially ones that make sense.
18/
I can definitely get behind strategies to re-find stability in our unstable world. Especially ones that make sense.
18/
And finally, the thing that resonated most for me. I've done this so many times over the past month: "As your workday gets back on track, it is absolutely essential that you control its length. ...
19/
19/
... Just because you started at 3:30 p.m. does not mean you should push your workday into the midnight hours."
How many times have I FINALLY gotten on a roll, and kept rolling till 1am? It destroyed me the next day. How had it never occurred to me to just end the day? 20/
How many times have I FINALLY gotten on a roll, and kept rolling till 1am? It destroyed me the next day. How had it never occurred to me to just end the day? 20/
Reminder of what I'm Twitter-reading: "How to Salvage a Disastrous Day in Your Covid-19 House Arrest" by @ProfAishaAhmad
https://chroniclevitae.com/news/2339-how-to-salvage-a-disastrous-day-in-your-covid-19-house-arrest?cid=VTEVPMSED1 /21
https://chroniclevitae.com/news/2339-how-to-salvage-a-disastrous-day-in-your-covid-19-house-arrest?cid=VTEVPMSED1 /21
What this Twitter-read couldn't convey was Ahmad's sympathetic tone, which I needed. Truly needed, and I didn't know it. Remember: I don't like productivity pieces as a rule. This piece spoke to me because it made it okay to fail. 22/
