Purpose in "Lockdown"

Today was a big day – I went shopping!! It’s been a week of "lockdown" here in South Africa and the second time I’ve left home in the last 10 days. It was a bit of process, because while you’re out one has to keep a distance from others AND when returning, it’s important to make sure you shower and disinfect the packaging so there is nothing potentially infectious that you bring into your home. What would have normally taken me 30 mins became a 90 min exercise. That’s not the point of the story though. The point is that today I woke up with a specific purpose in mind. I planned my other tasks around it and I have been managing to get things done efficiently. Yesterday, I was home all day. I had things to do, but I wasn’t as efficient with my tasks. I didn’t have as much to do as I did today, I had less of a sense of urgency and the quality of what I did was not as great. I didn’t have that “get-up-and-go” drive.

It is extremely helpful, before you go to sleep every night, to decide what your main purpose is for the next day – even more so than before “lockdown”. At home we have the distractions of partners, children, parents, siblings or housemates. We know that we won’t have to sit in traffic so we can sleep a bit later. We also have to cook and clean because we can’t buy take-aways or have cleaners come in every once in a while. Prioritising while working from home is so much more important than actually going into the office. We tend to be distracted by trivial things and our work suffers. For those who are not working right now, set yourself tasks for things that you had planned to do around the house, or quality activities that you can do at home with your family.

Having purpose and completing tasks gives one a sense of achievement and supports self-motivation and goal-directedness. It is vital for your mental and emotional well-being that you work towards a purpose that propels you forward. Think of what you can do this afternoon or evening to set tasks for the next day. These tasks should be such that they give you a real sense of achievement, not just a sense of being busy. If you ever wonder about the necessity of what you’re doing, always ask yourself: “How will this benefit my progress or what I wish to achieve?” If it doesn’t then it probably is not a priority. Prioritise the more difficult or important tasks above the others. Getting the more difficult or important ones out the way first, allows the rest of the day to flow more easily and in a stress-free state, and with an increased sense of confidence.

Find comfort in a fulfilling routine to maintain quality living in self-isolation.