One thing I have discovered about getting things done right now is that I have to break my tasks into smaller pieces than I did before.

Like, instead of say, “clean living room” (for instance), right now I might say “sort and recycle mail“ “arrange shoes” and so forth. If the task is too big, it feels daunting, and I get daunted more easily.

I am gradually getting a feel for what I can do in these new days.

It’s different.

The last 2 weeks have been better because I have started to acknowledge that it is different, and there is no comparison.

I cannot judge what a day can contain by what it used to contain. There is only watching what it does contain and nodding and saying, okay, that’s a day.

If I put off a thing for too long, it’s a sign I have not broken it down into small enough parts. Once I break it into a part small enough that I can start taking it on, I make progress.

Prioritization also becomes wildly important: when less fits in a day, I need the things that fit in to be the most important things.

It helps me to have an overarching priority.

I have experimented with having two priorities, and oddly, it does not work for me; I do not get anything done at all.

I have one priority right now, and the effect of having that one priority has been that I get more of everything done.

Knowing that there is one absolute that I must get done during the day helps me slot in (or discard) all the other non-absolute things.

I do not know what works for you, but I do know that I’ve struggled a bit, and so if this is at all helpful, I’m glad, and if you have anything to add that others might find helpful, please share.

(Long multi-thread parenthetical: For me, my “absolute” right now is this: I had four weeks of probably-covid which messed up my lungs and who knows what else. So my #1 priority is my physical health.

Getting enough (relatively gentle) exercise. Eating well. Sleeping (still not great at this; this is a decade-long struggle).

When I do not do this, worry takes up so much of my cycle. Not gonna put my worries out there b/c they don’t need to be shared, but I have a lot of worries about long-term effects.

When I do take this care, it helps settle my mind and my body in ways I don’t think I fully understand.

It helps that I can see a lot of progress—four weeks ago, I tried to do gentle yoga and couldn’t hold a downward dog for more than about 20 seconds without getting so short of breath I couldn’t do it, and I’m now at the point where breath is no longer the limiting factor.

When I first started getting better, I tried prioritizing writing AND health, and...neither got done. But just prioritizing health has also concurrently meant that I’ve been writing productively every day.)