Social media especially make it seem like others keep posting stuff all the time, but it's just an illusion! You just see posts of many, many people... not to mention many are also reposts of art from past months/years 🥹

We are not robots. We are human, with human biology. Human bodies were not designed to sit at a desk for hours on end, staring at a screen. Nevertheless, we've been conditioned into judging our "worth" based on how much "output" we can churn out. I'm here to remind you that there's a way to approach productivity in a more balanced manner.

Your productivity is mostly based on the way you’re taking care of yourself. You can’t be the best version of yourself if you’re running on motivation or determination only. You need reliable self-care systems.

This goes double for my neurodivergent friends. We can’t rely on ourselves, we need external, hard rules, and most importantly, we need to set these systems up so that our mind aligns with what our body is feeling.

To be productive, you need to:

Sleep enough (7-9h per night. It’s hard sometimes especially if you get woken up by anxiety or other problems, but it’s a good goal to try to stick to)

Eat well (nutritious food AND enough calories to keep you energetic. Blueberries and bananas are my favorite evening snacks!!)

Drink enough water (coffee and tea are tasty but they’re not enough! Keep a water bottle at your side AT ALL TIMES. It’s life-changing honestly, you begin to realize how dehydrated you’ve always been)

Exercise (work within your limits, and start small, but don’t skip this one. This has been the biggest contributor to my mental and physical well-being by far. It’s contributing to your health, it’s a great way to de-stress, it boosts energy, your body releases happiness hormones, you feel accomplished, you sleep better, you become more confident... It’s literally win after win after win)

Take care of your mental health (whatever that means to you, for me it means writing things that bug me, trying not to get too emotional over things I can’t control, positive affirmations, listening to music, drawing, etc.)

Meet new people (I know it’s scary, I’m an introvert. BUT, meeting new people lets you learn from them, broaden your perspective on life, get inspired, and make friends! Search up local events on meetup.com, there are plenty of different ones for all kinds of people, both outgoing and not-so-outgoing)

This list is quite long but it’s necessary to do all of those things (in a balanced way that feels right for you) in order to become a well-rounded person.

Once you’ve made changes on different “fronts“, the positive effect compounds: your nutrition affects your energy level which boosts your ability to exercise which then impacts how well you sleep, and round and round we go.

Once you’ve created a healthy system to fall back on, productivity at work or in school only becomes one part of a larger image. Doing one thing in excess is not healthy or sustainable.

Monday motivation: Productivity Tip #2

Here’s a tip you have likely figured out for yourself: if you have to walk a lot in a a day (I have just moved to London and don’t want to spend too much on travel!) have five or six useful podcasts downloaded at all times Make sure you have at least that many! You probably won’t need them all at once but it’ll be disappointing when you want them and they aren’t there. Let me be clear about what useful means as well: it means material from which you are learning, in whatever way you like, and is also really interesting for you so you don’t just tune it out. I’ve just started a master’s degree so for me that means Political Economy rather than languages at the minute, but it is great for languages too!

If your target language has no good podcasts available (it happens, even where there are podcasts they aren’t always good for your learning style or level) try radio or TV that you have already seen a couple of times. I generally convert YouTube videos to mp3s for this - I can’t tell you how good having Sherlok Kholms on repeat has been for my Russian (though there is a lot of dead air in that show too, something to bear in mind when you’re scouring your watched videos)! 

For the A2-B1 learner this is harder, but again I think that is why it is really valuable to relisten to material you’ve already watched/listened to and enjoyed - you’re engaged with the story and have a feel for the rhythm.You care enough to pay attention.

Monday motivation: Productivity Tip #1

Monday productivity tip #3