How often do you feel you’ve been unproductive in quarantine? I’d say pretty often if you spend lots of time on instagram, facebook or any form of social media, where you see everyone else being so 'productive'.

Productivity refers to efficiency and the ability to efficiently contribute to various measures of production, in society. Watching continuous news or various content which makes you either doubt your own capability or feel compelled to compete, may hinder your own feelings of productivity or motivation, especially before the lifting of lockdown. When our own anxiety or insecurities come up, our efficiency and productivity are automatically hampered.

Have you ever asked yourself why you feel that way? Is it because so many people are seeing this as an opportunity to learn and maybe you don’t feel the same way?

We use being productive to define our self worth even when that is not the case, it’s been ingrained in us that to be productive is good and healthy which it is to a certain extent, too much of anything will harm us and that goes with productivity, sometimes we all need some me time. Now that we are easing out of the lockdown and getting back to everyday life, there are ways to tackle this certain issue:

1. Remind yourself 20 times a day that your productivity does not define yourself worth.

2. Remind yourself that we are in a pandemic and we should not compare our coping mechanism to those of others.

3. Self love, be more compassionate with yourself more than you ever have before, this can be through just talking to yourself, keep a journal or record on how you feel or write things that you are grateful for.

4. Do more things that make you happy, it can be anything from dancing to washing dishes to just listening to music to watching the sunset, something mindful.

5. Listen to your body and mind, don’t force things to happen but just let them flow.

6. Especially when working from home, prioritise tasks, set realistic lifelines instead of deadlines.

The only way to conquer distressing feels which cause anxiety or a build up of negative emotions is by giving your mind what it needs, not more work or stress or added issues which society paints as functional everyday life. As human beings, rest, rejuvenating our brain cells and taking time to resolve anxiety or any factors impairing us from functioning are what we essentially need to stay healthy inside as well.

Our mental health affects us as much as any other disease or situational hazard and we need not compare it to what we may see online or in other people's lives. One study has shown that the best way to stay productive is by taking breaks throughout the day, excelling at our own pace.