With Greater Sydney now entering its third week of lockdown, several of my friends and acquaintances, particularly those working in creative industries, have found themselves out of work and struggling to find the motivation to pursue other avenues of content creation. Instead, activities such as compulsive swiping of potential matches on dating apps and furious masturbation seem to have preoccupied the minds and hands of many. No judgement.
All of these observations then got me thinking about the little-known (but very real) concept of 'Toxic Productivity'. After conducting some research (one Google search), I discovered that Toxic Productivity (TP) is essentially an unhealthy desire to be productive at all times and at all costs. It's the need to go that “extra mile” at work or at home, even when it is not expected of you. If we applied this to the aforementioned activities, for example, TP could manifest as dedicating more time to browsing potential adult videos, even after the task at hand is finished, so to speak.
I'll admit that I'm probably somewhere around this mark myself (a hard worker, not a furious masturbator). I work on LKC 6 days a week and generally put in a few extra hours on my day off. I just find sitting around so boring / mind-numbing, and though I try to watch Netflix, when I'm being forced to stay at home, naturally all I want to do is go out.
So I'm not really sure what the right balance is, but I would argue that there's nothing wrong with trying to be productive and making the most out of these days/weeks of pandemic-induced lockdown. However, if you're already working from home and need to establish some downtime, my advice is to try setting boundaries around when and where you work. I'd recommend trying a desk or table (not a bed).
Above all, look after yourself. We're in unprecedented times and this lockdown shit really takes its toll. I, for one, have apparently lost all of my conversation skills. Mind you, that happened about six years ago now.
– Lonely Kids Club
