If humanity is ever able to settle on another world one of the things we will have to deal with is a different length of day. This will be a very small consideration compared to building habitations, or making sure the terraforming torpedo doesn’t fall into the hands of an angry Klingon, but it is still a consideration.
In the current situation I think we are all considering how long our day is – from a certain point of view.
We don’t have the usual checkpoints of time. There is nowhere we have to be and nothing we have to do. This is both a blessing and a curse. I am sure we have all had days that felt really productive. There are also bad days:
Productivity experts are fond of saying that we all have 24 hours a day. It is statement designed to illicit the idea that all of us can achieve great things. However it is my opinion that this statement is not all that helpful. Each person has their own foibles and struggles – thus what barely registers as anything to one person could be a big challenge to another.
In the most basic sense we all have 24 hours, obviously, but not everyone is as capable of putting them to the best of use. Maybe this is me trying to correct for my own shortcomings of productivity. And maybe I am my own worst enemy. Maybe another person would say I, and you, are doing fine. Who is to say? I suspect if you have doubts about yourself as I do about myself you don’t want to seek out another’s opinion.
When this lock down started I had grand plans. I was going to write so much – 6000 words a day – it turns out that is beyond my capabilities. To do that would require typing six hours a day. Somehow time disappears on me. I think I have taken a brief pause but it turns out it wasn’t so brief!
I don’t work from home in the real sense rather I am being productive with my own projects. Eight hours alone at home is very different to eight hours at a place of work. At work you have colleagues, occasions of downtime, and jobs that can be done while having a nice conversation. At home it is just you and, in my case, a brain that doesn’t always co-operate. So all I can do is try to take this advice myself. If you are staying home at the moment do the best that you can. And try not to judge yourself too harshly.
Of course many people are still working through this period. I want to close by expressing my gratitude to them and say how amazing you all are.
I just wanted to say that I have checked this post. I really have. Unfortunately my particular combination of dyslexia and dyspraxia makes it really hard for me to spot typos. Please enjoy and I’ll try not to make too many errors.
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