It has been just over two months since the lock down commenced, and I can definitely say some days are better than others. Initially, I found myself quite resistant to what was happening around me and soon realized it was because it happen so abruptly. There was no real preparation period or time to bid the “old normal” farewell. So I found myself taking a few weeks to take everything in and to find my feet again. The most challenging thing for me was finding my rhythm, especially in the comfort of my home. Being a postgraduate student that works predominantly in a laboratory, the idea of working from home was completely new for me. The lack of pressure, deadlines and physically going to the lab/campus completely threw me off my usual productive routine. I was like a deer in headlights. Sure enough the writing lab newsletters came to my rescue and helped me find my rhythm of working from home.
The useful tips of finding my rhythm and things I could do to get the writing “ball” rolling gave me some direction. However, I found a few days passing with me doing little to no writing at all. All questions possessed by my accountability partner in relation to my writing were diverged to other topics. The writing process was not going well and I just did not understand why. I knew what I had to write, I read and made notes but when it came writing/typing my mind went into panic mode. I over thought every single sentence, questioned if it was academic enough or if it even made sense. My motivation had hit a dip. After some self-reflection/introspection I realized I had no real goal when it came to my writing. Completing my thesis writing is a long-term goal but I did not have many daily standards/short-term goals to get me going with the process. I needed some key objectives in order for me to see where the writing was going.
I opted for setting up some short-term goals/ tasks for myself. The advantage of short-term goals is that they are relatable, great for positive re-enforcement and lead to some form of action. The purpose of the tasks was for them to be actionable and achievable. Personally, I knew I do well with a little bit of pressure so I decided to set weekly actionable tasks. Breaking up the bigger piece of writing into smaller chunks that I can achieve in each week. This allowed me to not get overwhelmed by how much writing I needed to do but instead gave me clear focus/scope on what I wanted to achieve that day, week or month. The tasks were specific, actionable and realistic which made them easier to achieve. I also joined a weekly “Shut up and write” session just to crank-up the pressure and sure enough with my actionable tasks in place, the writing process started taking off. As mentioned before, the progress made would be self-determined and would be different for each person, but the feeling of achieving small goals or tasks did boost my confidence. Do not get me wrong, some days still remain better than others, and I myself have not perfected the process of being productive from home, especially during such uncertain times but every little step or action makes a difference in the bigger picture. Whether it be planning, reading one journal, writing one paragraph or reviewing what you have written all of those steps are still building blocks to your bigger writing piece or assignment.
I know that even thinking of goals or progress can be very stressful. Hence, I do not see this as another to-do list that I have to tick but more a method to direct my focus for each day. With all the uncertainty looming and stresses of the “new normal” it is important to also incorporate some intentional breaks to remove you from your writing and give your brain a bit of a rest. Adapting to change is challenging and some days may be more productive than others so do not forget to be kind to yourself. So, while we are under this lock down, I encourage you to try, even if it is not perfect it will definitely get better as the process continues.
Wishing you all safety during this time
Yours Truly
Nonku Mkwanazi
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