Now doesn't feel like the right time to worry about personal productivity, and yet we all have things we need to get done. But with the world in a state of pandemic; unemployment skyrocketing; and mass protests against police violence and systemic racism deserving our attention, time, energy, and emotions, we're all experiencing more stress than ever. When we're overstressed, we can't get things donewhich leads to more stress. We all have the capacity to handle some stress, of course, but like a muscle, it gets exhausted when it works to hard for too long, we need to help it recover. That's easier said than done, and, for many of us, it may require prioritizing self-care in a way we never have before.

Imagine that we keep resiliency to stress, as a resource, in a bucket. When things are going well, our bucket is full. As we encounter stress, whether in the form of problems in our personal lives or projects at work, we use our resources to combat the stress. The more stress, the more resources we use. Over time, the supply in our bucket dips.

Thankfully, we get breaks from some of our stressors, often in the form of free time and weekends. Those breaks allow the bucket to refill. We go on vacation, our bucket refills. We ask someone to watch the kids for a night, the bucket gets topped up. Even routine breaks during a workday help. As long as we have sufficient breaks from stressors, the bucket occasionally refills, which allows us to remain reasonably well equipped to function in the world and take on new problems as they arise.

Even in the best of times, when the resiliency bucket runs low and we start to run out of resources, we can't handle new problems, and more importantly, we don't handle existing problems very well either. As everyone knows from experience, when we get hit with too much stress at once, everything becomes more difficult to manage.

Right now, we're all working from buckets that are much lower than what we're used to. Some sources of stress, like COVID-19 and all its health and economic complications, are new and (mostly) unexpected. Other stressors, like the protests against police violence are not only new forms of stress in themselves, but also remind white people that that black people face persistent long-term stressors that white people don't. Repeatedly watching the shocking footage of people being murdered or other images of police violence causes a further escalation of stress.

With all these compounded stressors, even regular daily troubles can seem unbearable. Some of us who have never experienced an empty bucket are struggling, and those whose resilience was depleted to start with feel helpless and adrift. We all have to think about our strategies for dealing with stress much more purposefully than ever before.

If you're hoping to be highly productive right now, I invite you to take an inventory of your resources and stressors to decide whether it's worth your while. If you don't have enough resiliency to combat all the stressors coming your way, adding a stressful new productivity goal isn't going to help. You might decide that you're simply going to be getting less done for a little while and cut yourself a break. Look instead at where you might be able to get away with doing less, and talk to the people who will be affected, whether it's your job, your friends, or your family.

Keep in mind that if our bucket runs empty, we are not effective people in the world. We don't do a good job of helping our families or one another and we don't do much good for ourselves. So we have to find a way to refill our resiliency bucket. One research paper that analyzed how people recover from work-related stress points to three options: relaxation, control, and mastery.

Relaxation is pretty straightforward. Do something that relaxes you. Make sure you do it in such a way that you actually take a break from stressors. You've probably heard people talk about self-care in terms of treating yourself to something you enjoy. Have a glass of wine. Soak your feet in the tub. However, the trick is to do it in a way that gives you a break from stress. If you pour a glass of wine while looking at police violence on TV or social media, that's not getting you away from any of your stressors. It's similar to the idea that taking a proper lunch break at work means not eating in front of your email inbox.

Mastery means developing a skill, and it can be completely unrelated to your professional work. It's easiest to picture mastery as a hobby, such as making art, practicing a musical instrument, or playing a sport. The main idea is that you're engaging in a skill you enjoy and working to get better at it, which is how it's different from relaxation. The hobby or skill doesn't have to be clear cut, either. It can be something like telling jokes or redecorating your home, as long as you're actively trying to get better at it. If you feel like you don't have a skill to master, sites such as MasterClass and Skillshare can help you explore new areas and ideas.

Control has to do with having agency over your time. If you spend most of your free time taking care of others, no matter whether they're children, adults, or seniors, you may not have really chosen to do that. Even with care responsibilities, though, you might be able to exercise some control. For example, choosing to read a book to or listen to music with the people you give care to is a small way to have some decision-making power.

Regardless of our stress levels, many of us still need to do some kind of work or chore that requires focus. It might be to keep our income. It might be to organize social or political movements. There's still important work to be done. So what can you do when you're too stressed to focus?

Let's look at a few possible strategies. Keep in mind, though, that if your resource bucket runs empty, you won't be able to focus. Try to refill your bucket, even if it's just a little bit, before you try to tackle something difficult.

Time Blocking is exactly what it sounds like: blocking off time in your calendar and dedicating it to certain tasks. People use this technique to dedicate long, unbroken stretches of time to a task or activity. It's useful for tasks that require a state of flow, such as writing at length, reading long reports, or creating a presentation.

To use this technique, write a daily agenda using 15-minute increments (or more). Focus on scheduling your most important tasks in a few uninterrupted blocks. For example, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., I will work on Project X. From 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., I'll take a break and make sure my kids have what they need. Then from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., I'll finish Project X. Don't schedule your entire day down the minute.

Because life is more hectic than usual, I recommend leaving fairly big gaps between your blocks so you can take care of problems that arise. The goal is to protect the time you need to focus, and you can't do that if you don't leave some wiggle room.

The Pomodoro Technique comes from a book of the same name. The idea is to work intently for a fixed number of minutes, usually 20 to 25, and then take a short break. The name of the technique comes from the tomato-shaped kitchen timer (pomodoro is Italian for tomato) that author Francesco Cirillo used to time his work period and breaks when he invented the method.

The Pomodoro Technique is useful for work that can be done in spurts. It's not good if you need to get into a deep flow state to accomplish your task. You'll need a timer and notepad, which can be physical or digital.

Start by setting your timer for 20 to 25 minutes. Work intently on your task. If a thought interrupts you, jot it down in your notepad quickly and forget about it for now. Do not stop working until the timer rings. When it does, reset it for three to five minutes, and take a break. In the traditional method, you would repeat this process three or four more times, and then take a longer break. There are plenty of browser plug-ins that help you use the Pomodoro Technique. I happen to like StrictWorkflow. It puts a timer in your window that counts down the minutes in red when you're in a focus session and green when you're on a break.

In the current climate, when stress is high and resilience is low, it might be effective enough to simply set a timer for 20 minutes and try to focus on only one thing for that time. Don't worry as much much about timing your breaks or jumping back into the repetition.

Keep Unusual Hours. If there's something you desperately need to get done and you're having difficulty making time for it, try working during unusual hours. It might be very early in the morning, late at night, or while your family eats dinner. I don't recommend using this method long term; if you did, those hours would no longer be "unusual," right? That said, if you need to get something done and you have the opportunity to wake up at 5:00 a.m. two days in a row to bang it out, it's worth trying.

In normal times, there's a similar technique of working in unusual locations. Some people find it easy to concentrate when they're in a public place, such as a cafe or even on airplanes and trains. You don't have to book a flight to finish your big project, however, as you can replicate the same experience by going somewhere with similar elements, like background chatter and no access to Wi-Fi. With COVID-19, being in alternate locations is tough or impossible. So use time instead of location to shake up your routine.

Without a doubt, we're living in a time of deep suffering. Acknowledging and honoring your unique hardships, as well as those of people around you, may help you process and understand just how low you're running on resiliency as a resource.

The first step needs to be taking care of yourself. To do that, do anything you can to reduce or at least get a break from some of your stressors. Even small actions, like ordering groceries or meal kits instead of going to the store, can alleviate a little bit of stress. And when the stress load starts to lighten, we have a chance to refill that resource bucket.

Secondly, when you do need to focus and get work done, try using a technique to help you set aside time and make progress. And keep in mind that it's OK if you aren't as productive now as you were a year ago. We're in conditions that make it nearly impossible. Be patient with yourself and try to take everything one moment at a time.

Read more:
It's Time to Put Self-Care Before Productivity - PCMag