Avoid Overextending Yourself During The Pandemic
In the last months of the spring and summer, this blog has featured material with a focus on trying to help law students remain productive through the pandemic. Perhaps one aspect of the quarantine that has been overlooked is for everyone, not just law students, to avoid overextending themselves by trying to do too much during these trying times.
As people everywhere are forced to stay at home as the global pandemic rages amidst events causing widespread demand for social change, there is a bottomless “suggestion box” to which all types of media are regularly contributing. It seems that maximizing our extra time at home should be everyone’s priority.
The fact of the matter is, as we live in daunting, if not surreal, times, that the variables currently in place work against the accomplishment of any tasks. It is therefore natural that a tendency exists for people to feel pulled in many different directions with trouble focusing on the task at hand.
People all over the globe are experiencing a collective trauma which is resulting in increased anxiety and depression. As people try to remain productive, they are facing the challenge of navigating life changes with unprecedented uncertainty. Most of them have never really experienced such turmoil in their lifetimes.
While the pandemic may cause anxiety and sleeplessness, other factors such as the current social unrest, unemployment, and access to health care may further aggravate personal tension and uneasiness. Individual circumstances differ which makes people process life’s challenges in a variety of ways. Thus, the notion that there is a “right way” to get through this may be too far-fetched to be a reasonable personal expectation. Perhaps the best way is to allow yourself to get through this in your way. Respecting the range of styles that people use to cope and allowing them the space to behave as they see fit to manage their anxiety may just make a person less judgmental.
In the middle of any frightening, traumatic experience, people often channel their fear and anxiety into productivity. While being productive may be therapeutic during troubling times, as a coping mechanism, it may have a negative effect when taken to excess. Overextension may cause the neglect of any acknowledgment of personal feelings and emotions. Recognizing feelings of sadness and stress allows people to move forward and, thus, function better.
It is not uncommon to have a surge of creative inspiration to complete a project one day and then feel differently the next day. Although simple, taking things “one-day-at-a-time” is probably the best mantra anyone can have in the summer of 2020. There will be days when feelings of having little focus and being overwhelmed outweigh anything else. And this is more than acceptable and okay.
Stay well.
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