Your Productivity Means Nothing if Your Mental Health Is Shot

Prioritize your mental health right now, not your productivity.

Imagine you’re sitting at your dining room table, trying your best to work from home, when you look up to see two ghosts sitting at the table with you.

One, of course, is COVID-19. We’re reminded of this disease’s horrific toll on a daily basis. Every day we wake up in this new reality, the specter is with us, reporting the number of new cases and deaths, murmuring about the impacts to come.

The second specter is quieter. Not as imposing. But it’s insidious too. It whispers about time wasted, about things you should have finished, about everything you should be doing while you take a break.

With every whisper, you feel worse. Guilt sinks its claws into you. You’re exhausted, but you decide to work longer, push through. After all, there’s so much to be done.

Soon, you’re consumed by your work. Not a moment goes by that you don’t think of it. Every break feels like a sin. Every non-work task a nonessential interruption. You’ve become a work machine, and time is a tyrant. But you’re so tired. So drained.

The second specter isn’t quite as easy to name. It’s hustle culture. It’s the old god that declares productivity can only be measured in widgets and time spent in an office. It’s the remnants of the Industrial Revolution mindset that humans should be able to work just like machines.

If this pandemic has shown us anything, it’s that this ghost needs to be put to rest.

Because all the productivity in the world won’t mean a thing if your mental health is shot.

The entire world is in crisis right now. As a result, every person on earth is under a massive amount of strain they wouldn’t usually face.

If you’re not worried about youself or a loved one catching the disease, you’re worried about the virus affecting your workplace or business. If you’re not worried about either of those, you’re probably worried about the long-term effects of the crisis, whether that’s the economic or human cost.

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