How productive are you?

That's exactly the question that is not appropriate during this global pandemic.

I have advocated against an obsession with productivity, especially in higher education; but we will merely focus on life during these extraordinary times.

Ever since COVID-19 started ruining our lives, I have been tweeting in favor of a slowdown.  Being alive and healthy is productive enough, I believe.

Like this one on March 30th:

"Understand that this is a marathon. ...
Emotionally prepare for this crisis to continue for 12 to 18 months, followed by a slow recovery."https://t.co/KYqRIHg0em via @chronicle @profaishaahmad

— Am.Dr.Khe (@congoboy) March 30, 2020

And this a few days later:

"This is a very stressful time and you shouldn’t be operating on all four cylinders all the time. ...
We just need to pace ourselves.”#Productivity in the time of the #Coronavirushttps://t.co/alCsgxTsjB#COVID19 #MentalHealth

— Am.Dr.Khe (@congoboy) April 6, 2020

And more.

Recently, I joked with my mother that people all over the world have adopted her lifestyle--not going out of the house, and not doing much when inside.  She laughed.  Of course, there is a whole another reason for her house arrest over the past couple of years.  But, such is life!

We have brought this productivity curse upon ourselves.  The first mistake was the agricultural revolution.  The industrial revolution was an even bigger mistake.

Since the Industrial Revolution, the dominant philosophy of work has centered around productivity as the only metric that’s important for success. As work culture developed, we’ve internalized the idea that any time that isn’t spent doing something is wasted time. Worse, we’ve been made to believe that if we aren’t struggling and hustling, we don’t deserve our success. And now, our relationship to work has become tied to our sense of self and self-worth.

The relationship that we have developed between work and self-worth is also why when meeting new people, almost the first question is about what we do!  We have even developed modern aphorisms like "work builds character."  What bullshit!

During these coronavirus times, it is all the more important to set aside time for the real self:

It’s important to use some of this time to process our emotions and reflect on the discomfort from all this productivity propaganda. Operating as usual will not only negatively affect your work but could compromise your health.

Even well after the global pandemic eases.