Hello, it’s only Tuesday, and it’s also time for our daily open thread.
I’ve been having a lot of trouble getting things done lately, a struggle I’m sure I’m not alone in. Maybe you’ve seen the memes about Shakespeare writing King Lear while in quarantine, along with all the reminders that you don’t have to write King Lear right now. Besides panic-baking loaves of bread and then sadness-eating the entire loaf, I’m struggling with using my time in ways that feel good. There are so many books I want to read, projects I want to write, and hours of physical therapy exercises I’m supposed to be dragging myself through, but after work I mostly find myself staring anxiously into space or endlessly scrolling my social media feeds (a habit which needed to stop before this, and which the current crisis is only making worse). I don’t feel a lot of pressure to be optimally productive, but I do occasionally devolve into shouting at myself “If you don’t make it out of this, did you really want to spend your last days being mad at someone from college on Facebook?” Berating myself into success is a strategy that’s never worked before, but hey—maybe now is the time! (If you are thinking of trying this strategy: no, it is not the time.)
How are you keeping up with your life during all this? Are you setting a schedule? Are you addressing things as they come up? How’s it going?