How To Be Productive and Effective During Social Distancing
By: Anthony Moore
Tags: Entrepreneurship, Productivity, Coronavirus, Anthony Moore, Business

How To Be Productive and Effective During Social Distancing

Use this time to be effective and learn more

Yesterday, I sent out an email to my subscribers, seeing if everyone was safe during the current Coronavirus outbreak.

I got an interesting response from one reader:

“I used to sometimes wish the world would just stop spinning for a bit so I could read that book, learn that skill, re-assess that career. Like a snow-day for the whole world.”

That struck me. How many of us have wished for the same thing — a sudden break from our job so we could just sit down, re-assess, and reflect?

The world has been shaken by the Coronavirus. As healthcare professionals heroically work around the clock to save lives and treat sick people, many of us have found ourselves stuck at home, without work, sports, events, or gathering of any kind to pass the time.

Many people are turning to television, video games, or social media. While it’s important to be informed, this is a unique chance for many of us to finally do things we’ve always been “meaning” to do. It’s time to reflect and use this time wisely.

Here’s how to be productive and fruitful during social distancing, to help yourself, your family, and those around you.

Reinvest Your Free Time

“Anyone who truly makes something of themselves takes their free time and reinvests it in themselves.” -Nicolas Cole

Most people actually don’t reinvest their free time.

According to a 2016 American Time Use Survey, most Americans spend 2.7 hours after work watching television — about half their free time.

Nearly a third of people didn’t touch a book in the past year.

Less than 5% of adults exercise for 30 minutes or more a day.

While you’re social distancing and quarantining yourself, it’s tempting to grab some snacks, plop on the couch, and binge watch everything.

Instead, reinvest this free time on productive, edifying behaviors that will make you smarter and more skilled.

The world’s most successful people invest their free time. In the words of prolific writer Nicolas Cole:

“Successful people don’t see it as ‘free time,’ they see it as the only time they have to do the things they really want to do in life — and they don’t take a minute for granted.”

Scott Adams, creator of the wildly successful Dilbert comics, once said, “Every skill you acquire doubles your odds of success.”

If you want to be successful, and focus your efforts to achieve greatness in the most important areas of your life, it’s fair to ask yourself:

How do you usually spend your free time?

What new skills can you learn right now?

What activities drain your energy and leave you lifeless?

What can you do differently?

Is excessive consumption of social media, the news, television, and video games preventing you from achieving your goals?

If you’re reading this, I hope you’re healthy and safe during the Coronavirus outbreak. It’s fine to watch TV and take your mind off the terrible news.

But spend more time learning and creating than you do on entertainment. Maybe you haven’t read a book in forever. When’s the last time you took an online course? Exercise! (If you have the space).

We don’t know how long social distancing is needed; in the meantime, choose to reinvest your free time to make your life better.

Develop Your Ability to Ignore Almost Everything

There’s a lot of distractions right now.

When I woke up this morning, I had to fight the urge to immediately check my phone and the news. I decided to give myself a good 20 minutes to make my coffee, feed the dog, and sit down before I checked the Internet.

While it’s important to stay informed, there’s no point in torturing yourself over things you can’t control. Learn what you need to know, then focus on other things.

If there’s one thing the Coronavirus is teaching us, it’s that most things are unimportant. Family, loved ones, your health, helping people — these are truly important things. Everything else is secondary.

Most things, frankly, don’t deserve our full attention and focus.

What I define as “important” is simple: does it contribute to expanding your life? Does it help those around you? Does it directly build your legacy and life’s calling? Does it give you life and fulfillment?

For me, the most important things for me are Jesus, family, my health, and my work. Everything else simply comes second.

Of course, anything can be construed to fit these requirements; people will claim email is “essential.” Watching that TV show is a “must-see.”

But when you really, truly analyze these “essential” and “crucial” obligations, you realize they have virtually no impact on your future. They don’t expand your life. They don’t contribute to your legacy.

The more you understand this, the better equipped you are to produce truly phenomenal work and help those around you.

What “essential” things do you need to give up?

What do you need to start ignoring?

How can you spend that time better?

Why haven’t you started these things yet?

Your ability to ignore irrelevance is just as important as your ability to focus on priorities.

“Being perpetually busy is a kind of laziness.” -Tim Ferriss

Spend More Time Learning and Creating Than On Entertainment and Distractions

A couple weeks ago, I bought an online course on building a business.

It’s been weird studying marketing habits and sales letters while the world around me seems to be crumbling with the Coronavirus. I feel very distracted and unfocused.

But I’m glad I’m doing something to help my business and my family while I’m stuck at home.

I definitely plan on spending some time playing video games and relaxing. There’s a lot going on, and it feels overwhelming and horrible.

But I’m choosing to spend more time learning and creating things than I do on entertainment.

If you want to live an extraordinary life, you need to give up a “normal” one. It’s normal to spend all your free time on TV and bingeing on more news stories about the virus. It’s normal to want to panic and buy all the toilet paper within a 2 mile radius!

Again, it’s important to stay informed — I recommend listening to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the World Health Organization (WHO) for legitimate, fact-based updates.

But if you want to be productive and fruitful during social distancing, spend less time worrying about the news and more time learning new things, reading more uplifting content, and practicing new skills.

There are probably dozens of things people have started doing on a daily basis that aren’t helping them improve. Don’t be like these people; choose to help others and improve your own life by expanding your knowledge, modeling this behavior for others.

Spend more time on learning and creating.

In Conclusion

It’s a scary time right now.

It’s tempting to panic, and do things out of fear.

But instead of letting fear dominate your life and decisions, choose to be productive and fruitful during this required social distancing. While everyone’s wringing their hands watching the news and rushing to buy more supplies (when they already have plenty), choose to be productive and fruitful.

Spend more time learning and creating than you do on entertainment and distraction.

Be informed, but don’t torture yourself by constantly checking the news every few minutes.

Focus on being a more calm, resilient, patient person in the face of uncertainty and fear. Be someone people can look to and lean on during this time.

Be effective, be helpful, and be someone you’re proud to be.

Stay safe out there.

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