When COVID19 started, the media was filled with stories of people investing in new hobbies and investing in getting a little extra work done.
In academic circles, I noticed a rush to finish projects, more volume in terms of paper submissions, and an edgier tone in suddenly on-time review packages.
In my circle, my teams suddenly started many more papers.
So my lived experience mapped to the experience in the press.
Two years later …
COVID19 has abated, as have the stories of new hobbies, richer engagement with family, as have stories of enhanced productivity.
In academic circles, there has been a robust conversation about how the pandemic impacted people differently, a sense of exhaustion on editorial boards, & while that edgier tone persists, review packages have returned to their normal slow pace.
In my circle, I have noticed that many of the COVID projects have slowed or failed to reach the maturity to go to market.
This has caused me to pause and ask: did work from home caused by the pandemic really make people more productive? Or have we all grown fatigued?
I am fatigued.
While I can’t answer these questions for everyone, I can suggest coping strategies to deal with pressure to produce & associated fatigue.
First, limit your number of projects.
Working from home does not mean more time in the day. Be judicious in how many projects that you start.
Be selfish with your time.
Second, remember performance requirements have not gone up.
Most schools have extended tenure clocks & instructed faculty to not demand more from early career scholars.
Don’t put more pressure on yourself than you need to.
Third, don’t be afraid to abandon projects.
Ideas that seemed great during COVID May no longer seem great.
Cut bait. Not every project has to be finished.
Fourth, manage the pace of communication.
Your impulse is to hop on calls or send txts to discuss ideas.
But, you can have too many calls. Ask yourself is every call needed? Or txt message needed? Or will an email do?
Email is great bc it lets people respond at their own pace & people also accept if you don’t quickly respond.
No matter the tool, slow down conversations & make them more mindful.
Fifth, cut yourself some slack.
Just as the cutover to WFH created a disruption, the return to work also represents a disruption.
Mistakes will be made as we all sort out the new rules of work, bc COVID changed people and organizations.
Finally, stop making comparisons.
What you see on social feeds constitute idealizes selves. Very few people post about rejection or struggles.
If you get caught in comparing idealized selves versus real selves, it could cause a downward spiral.
My suspicion is many are no more productive than we were pre-COVID - so benchmark against what worked for you before covid - not the expectations of doing more.
Be realistic! And you will feel better!
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