Lily Zanze '21
This past year, we have had a lot of practice focusing on what we cannot do. For our own safety, we have made a habit of observing restrictions. It has been particularly easy to feel adverse to these restrictions, as they have served to keep us apart from people, contradicting our most basic instincts as humans to be social. Personally, the constant reminder of all the uncertainty has caused me to neglect to prioritize those things that make me feel normal, like exercise and a healthy diet, for example. It has become so easy to focus on that which I can’t do that it now takes an exceptional amount of effort to focus on all the things that I can. If you’re struggling to find agency amidst the restrictions of the pandemic, I can assure you that you’re not alone. I can also tell you that life will always present you with restrictions, and whether they are pandemic-related or not, being able to direct your energies towards a productive solution is an invaluable skill. That being said, productivity is subjective.
For some people, being productive means moving the body after a long time. According to a student survey by the Active Minds organization, 56% of students report that their daily level of physical activity has decreased or significantly decreased. At the beginning of the pandemic, my first instinct was to return to those courts and fields I had practiced at many times before to exercise. Unfortunately, many of those facilities were closed and I, along with many others, had to reconsider what it would mean to exercise going forward. Facility closures, canceled athletic seasons, and rigorous academic workloads made it impossible to work out in the ways that I was familiar with, and as I focused on all those obstacles that stood in my way, it began to take a toll on my mental health. Over the next few months, it became clear that creativity was essential in finding solutions when presented with restrictions like these.
So, I tried to refocus my attention on all those things which I was allowed to do, and eventually, I found myself taking up activities that I never thought I would. For example, I tried rock climbing upon returning to campus in the fall. I initially considered running or strength and conditioning as options, despite not feeling excited to try either, because I thought they would best prepare me for the upcoming basketball season. However, because I made the conscious decision to dedicate my time to an activity that I was excited to try, I learned a new skill. Rock climbing certainly would not have been my first choice if volleyball, basketball, or lacrosse had been an option, as I am more accustomed to sports that emphasize keeping your butt close to the ground. However, after only a few weeks of rock climbing, I became much stronger, and I learned how to use my body in ways that I never imagined I could. I soon found that in rock climbing, similar to the other sports I play, you have to be strategic and thoughtful in your movements and you have to rely on the people around you to do the best you possibly can. Now, I may not have a final basketball season, but I am grateful I chose an activity that I knew I would enjoy in the moment, even though it didn’t seem like the most rational decision. Before I committed to rock climbing, I was so consumed by how I was being held back that I almost let it interfere with my ability to become a better athlete and teammate. As it turns out, redirecting my efforts towards another activity was the most productive way to move forward at that time. During these times of uncertainty, flexibility can seem counterintuitive, but it can also be the ultimate tool because it enables the pursuit of new opportunities.
Again, productivity means something different to every person. For some, productivity means maintaining good mental health while facing the implications of the pandemic’s restrictions. A principal example of this is the adjustment to remote, or even socially-distanced, learning. Another student survey, “The Impacts on Young People with Mental Health Needs,” done in Autumn, 2020 by the YoungMinds Organization, revealed that 38% of students with mental health needs would describe their mental health as “very poor” since starting school, a stark contrast to the 23% who found it to be so before the start of school. In 2020, students have lost the control to decide what is important to them as they arrange their priorities to best adapt. Physical safety has taken first place on the list of priorities for many students, either voluntarily or involuntarily, as we work together to stay safe and overcome COVID-19. With the introduction of remote and socially-distanced learning, academics have taken second place on the list for many as students try to navigate and overcome the obstacles it presents. With all the change that is happening, students are spending a substantial amount of time trying to accommodate, allowing mental health to come lower on the list of priorities. The same Active Minds survey mentioned in the previous paragraph revealed that 80% of young adults have experienced “stress or anxiety” as a result of the Coronavirus, but that 15% percent are most stressed about “having trouble focusing on studies.”
These statistics prompt the question: What could be done to improve mental health and lessen students’ anxiety? It likely means rearranging your list of priorities to allow yourself the necessary time and energy to repair your mental health. It is unfortunate for me to have to reveal this in a school newspaper, of all places, but I hope it seems ironically fitting as we revisit this article’s theme that sometimes, being productive can seem counterintuitive. If you identify with these statistics, perhaps it may help to focus on being more productive when it comes to producing things that make you happy. This could mean that you invest time in friendships by being more communicative, or that you spend more energy cooking food that properly fuels your body and mind. If you are struggling and redirect your attention towards restoring a balanced emotional wellbeing, you will find those other aspects of your life which once brought you so much anxiety no longer do. In this way, you can be relieved of the anxiety induced by school by redirecting your focus from it and towards bettering yourself. However you choose to increase your emotional productivity, know that it may cause you to rearrange your priorities, but that if you can effectively address your needs, it will likely benefit you in more ways than one.
When there is so little opportunity for control, we have to be creative, as well as flexible, in finding solutions. This means that we can’t waste our energy fixating on what we wish were happening, but instead, must fixate on what we can make happen. Productivity is a relative term and every person understands it differently, but as much as I have tried to prove its applicability, there is no possibility of being productive if you don’t think that you are capable of it. Unfortunately, it is hard to feel capable of productivity when the route by which you think it could be achieved seems counterintuitive to your cause, like prioritizing your mental health over academics when your grades are slipping. When you feel hopelessly unproductive, rearranging your priorities might not seem ideal, or even appealing, but I encourage you to explore what you wish were producing more of. Wonderfully enough, reexamining the meaning of productivity, not to mend to, but to work with, the restrictions life presents leads to new possibilities and unique solutions.
Comments