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How background stress of the pandemic and working from home has manifested for me:
- lack of attention span
- broken task chains (mid-task, I find another task that needs doing, shift to that, find another, ad infinitum, no tasks done)
- so many typos
- no short-term memory
- lack of attention span
- broken task chains (mid-task, I find another task that needs doing, shift to that, find another, ad infinitum, no tasks done)
- so many typos
- no short-term memory
I think a lot of this is Zoom brain and work-from-home. I worked really hard to make home a place of respite, and to compartmentalize work at work, because overwork is a mental health challenge for academics. I'm also very pattern-dependent. Everything in its place.
The reason I think it's partly the work mode, and not just the circumstances, is that I've always struggled with generalized anxiety and depression, so that's not new. Though, the pandemic is bringing up lots of past trauma, and I'm high-risk, so I'm sure that doesn't help.
So, if you're struggling but feel like you shouldn't be because [reasons], you're not alone.
I'm trying out blocked scheduling, where I switch tasks at set intervals instead of struggling over large blocks of time. And I'm minimizing social media, which exacerbates this.
I'm trying out blocked scheduling, where I switch tasks at set intervals instead of struggling over large blocks of time. And I'm minimizing social media, which exacerbates this.
I also turn off the video on Zoom, almost all the time now. Voice just doesn't break my brain the way video does, for whatever reason. Maybe it's because I grew up talking with friends on party lines, but losing video has improved my concentration.
[*A lot of us without kids feel like we should be productive because we see parents struggling, and there's a narrative that idealizes child-free life right now. You are absolutely allowed to struggle without kids, too. You are not a failure.]
