"Hustle culture" in the corona era

One of the many consequences of Covid-19 is that we are now all being urged to hustle harder than ever. There used to be a line that differentiated professional from personal and now that "line is a dot" to all of us, as Joey from the famous T.V. series F.R.I.E.N.D.S. would put it. For those who might not be fans of Joey, this means, it's now hard to tell when one starts and the other ends. There is profound pressure from everywhere to be productive, a new splurge of low-touch economy companies sending emails urging us to make use of the downtime by learning this new language, or by taking that business course, getting this regimen into lifestyle or reviving that long-lost hobby.

Having said that, the pressure is truly convincing. At various points, I have vowed to be religious about a lot of things and the lockdown has definitely helped me toe the line. Before I get to what new and old things I have been able to regularize, here's something interesting that I came across an year ago and it hasn't seemed more relevant than now.

Start small with "Habit Stacking"

You are two to three times more likely to follow through with a habit if you make a specific plan for when, where, and how you are going to implement it. 

As per experts, one of the best ways to build a new habit is to find a habit you already do each day and then stack your new behaviour on top of it. In simple terms, find ways to "stack" new or old habits, that you have always wanted to get back to, into things that you already do on a daily basis. This strategy has been popularized by BJ Fogg at Stanford University. Here's a template for creating your own habit stack and a few additional ideas of how to put the idea into practice.

Figure:1 - Habit stacking template

Few examples of how you can use the template:

• After I lay down in bed for the night, I will not use my phone and read at least 10 pages from something
• After I take my last office call, I will turn off work notifications on my phone
• After I finish reading a book, I will pass it on to someone I feel might enjoy
• After I step outside for a chore, I will feed a stray dog on my way back
• After I finish my meals, I will walk up and down my stairs, three times
• After I finish my breakfast, I will water my indoor plants
• When I see my water bottle is half empty, I will fill it back up
• When I feel stressed or anxious, I will close my eyes and take five deep breaths

Back to the new and old habits I have been able to adopt and adapt respectively...

Although the idea of grounding into a new routine or getting started on bold ambitions is challenging however all of us can near the mark on a sense of what we want to accomplish during our free time - not just now, in the pre-corona era too. I have always wanted to do a few things more regularly than I used to and this extra time from lack of travelling, traffic, and social catch-ups has given me that chance to. Here are a few things that I have been doing in addition to doing my actual job (which is also quite dazzling by the way):

Habit #1. After I finish a book, I will write a synopsis or critical appreciation of it

One of the things I have loved doing since I was a kid is highlighting while reading that just makes the experience so much more "consumable and sticky". I still continue to do it but a new thing that I have added to the process of book reading is writing a summary of the things that I learnt and if there's anything that I feel could have been added. Often most, writing is undermined as an art however as corporates, it is truly one of the most essential skills to have. It is impossible to write well without thinking. A good writing is more than logic in action. So penning down a summary of the book I read helps me, in two-fold - The takeaways stay with me forever and I get better at my writing.

Some of the interesting books I have read recently: Where good ideas come from (By Steven Johnson - Now reading), Brotopia, Measure what matters, Thinking fast and slow, The 4 disciplines of execution, and Hooked among others

Habit #2. After I am done with a week, I will create a colour-coded work-home schedule for the next two weeks

...just like we used to, during our good-old school days.

Between zoom-fatigue staggering through the day and us wiggling through work and home, the coronavirus outbreak has unapologetically changed the way we live and work. That's when a routine for yourself in weekly formats framed to your work schedules and personal commitments can help strike the coveted work-life balance. There are multiple ways to do this and it will vary based on parameters like:

• Time of the day you're most productive - Which can be dedicated to laps of deep work
• Time when you're most thoughtful - Which can be assigned to deep thinking or clearing emails
• Time when you need physiological breaks - Which is for your mental breaks also
• Nature of work and number of planned calendar blocks you have for a week
• Important tasks for your week ahead, etc.

Figure:2 - Color-coded Routine - This is just for one day and can be extended for upto two weeks

Habit #3. After everytime I self-care, I will also "co-care"

Just a while ago, when we were still in rue of the withdrawal symptoms of lockdown and getting to terms with it, I finally sat down and submitted my application for voluntary mentorship and personality counseling services to ICCC. A few weeks later, I received their letter of acceptance along with the next steps of how I could propagate on this (Back story: The organization is invested in helping students and guardians inform decisions of their personal growth and career development). It has been a rewarding journey for me to have interacted with a lot of them and helping them navigate during these unprecedented times through tools of human compassion, available information, and understanding of needs.

Habit #4. After I feel an instance of 'need for personal growth', I will make it a 'continuous pursuit'

...After all personal growth is not a reflex or reaction, it's continuous and habitual. I have always been obsessed with learning and designing frameworks of all types - strategy, operations, metrics, marketing, research and analysis among others but off late, this framework obsession has heavily shifted to topics of products and human experiences. I try to learn about one new product or watch one product pitch, every week. This feeds a lot into the work I do and eventually helps me understand the clients and customers we serve, better. I often take this habit up as a deep thinking activity in my "colour coded" routine - that's where it fits best for me [in Figure:2 above].

Back to where we started from...

It’s no wonder these pressures from this new culture are being felt more keenly now amid mass dislocation. But then I stop myself and I wonder: is the “hustle culture” going to stick around for a while? Thanks to the virus, it might as well.

If a habit effectively solves a problem you’re facing, then you’ll have a reason to repeat it.

Above everything, it is essential to honor the needs of our minds, bodies, and families. By honoring these, all of us can better process the current situation, and the impending, to create a space for us to be "productive" in a way that helps us learn new things (and not necessarily new skills), and explore areas for personal wellness (and not just personal growth), as a habit and not just in reflex to an event. After all, to each their own.  

Interesting side note - "To each his own" phrase was popularized by the Roman politician, Marcus Tullius Cicero, way back in the 45BC.

This brings me to my fifth and last thing of (not exactly) productivity and also, something avant-garde for me.

Habit #5. After I come across a phrase [new or old], I will trace back its origins

Although literary devices have fascinated me immensely but this idea, I'll have to credit to "contact tracing" associated with the novel virus and here is what I mean, in context to origin tracing of English phrases (or idioms):

Phrase - Break the ice

Origin: Back when road transportation was not developed, ships would be the only transportation and means of trade. At times, the ships would get stuck during the winter because of ice formation. The receiving country would send small ships to “break the ice” to clear a way for the trade ships. This gesture showed affiliation and understanding between two territories.

Phrase - Bury the hatchet

Origins: This one dates back to the early times North America when the Puritans were in conflict with the Native Americans. When negotiating peace, the Native Americans would bury all their hatchets, knives, clubs, and tomahawks. Weapons literally were buried and made inaccessible.

This is what caught my attention and I have only been going deeper: https://www.grammarly.com/blog/14-expressions-with-crazy-origins-that-you-would-never-have-guessed/.

***Endnotes: The thought behind writing this article originated from the multiple conversations with my friends and colleagues who have all been able to frame meaningful ways of spending their time and how inspiring their stories and methods have been. Do share, how the downtime has been inspiring and effective for you.

References:

1. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
2. Grammarly - https://www.grammarly.com/blog/14-expressions-with-crazy-origins-that-you-would-never-have-guessed/