Talking about COVID-19: Taking Care of Yourself is Productive
By Hailey Ingram M.Ed., RP
Registered Psychotherapist
Back in February We The Urban – a magazine dedicated to inclusivity, self love, and marginalized voices –posted this quote on their Instagram page. “Taking care of yourself is productive.”
We The Urban — February 26 2020
And at the time I remember feeling struck by it. As a psychotherapist I know too well the negative effects of prioritizing productivity over all else. Heck, as a human I know the negative effects of this and how it shows up in my own life. In my work I see clients day after day who are burnt out, stretched too thin, and continuing to push themselves beyond their capacities in order to live up to unrealistic expectations set by workplaces, society, or themselves.
It’s worth acknowledging that we are a part of a society that conditions us to feel this way. We are taught that as humans success is the greatest thing we can achieve and that we should always be in pursuit of it. We can’t help but get caught up in the comparisons, the rat race, the desire to work harder and to be better. And so, it’s that much more challenging to pull back from these ideas.
We think ‘I should be doing more,’ ‘I should be able to keep up with all of this,’ ‘I can’t admit I’m feeling burnt out because I’ll feel like a failure.’
How often do you witness others or yourself obsessed with the hustle, wearing busy as a badge of honour, or bragging about the lack of sick days taken? These are all examples of how we internalize these societal pressures and expectations.
Even before COVID-19 these pressures ran rampant in our society and in our lives. And although life has technically slowed down for some during this time – for many it hasn’t and for most of us it has meant a much more disorganized and hectic day to day.
And yet, the pressures we continue to put on ourselves to be productive are alive and well. Bake bread! Learn a new language! Clean out those closets! You have so much time on your hands! Now’s the time! Seize the day! Take a course! Write that novel! Start a new at home workout routine!
As much as I’d love for our society to adopt aspects of the slow living movement and completely reject the hustle culture we’re all tapped into, I don’t know how reasonable that is as a starting point.
So what if instead we did some re-framing –if we seriously considered this simple quote and allowed ourselves to lean into this sentiment. Taking care of yourself is productive. Now more than ever.
Not only are we better able to show up in all other aspects of our life after first showing up for ourselves (taking care of ourselves), we are worthy of showing up for ourselves – end of story. If we are open to accepting that taking care of ourselves is productive and worthwhile, can we harness our ability to prioritize productivity for the better? Can we add things like move my body, have a bath, get outside, take a nap, eat nourishing food, call a friend, spend an hour alone, etc., to our To Do lists with the same urgency and vigor that we add work and household tasks to To Do lists? Can we hold space for our To Do lists to include not only Zoom meetings and folding laundry, but things that fill us back up as well?
And don’t get me wrong – if baking bread or an at-home workout routine are filling you up right now – that’s great! But if they’re not and instead they feel like things you should be doing and in turn are adding more pressure or more to your plate, that’s ok too.
We would love to hear from you! What fills you up? How do you show up for yourself? How do you take care of yourself? What new ways might you be able to take care of yourself in this time?