As time wears on and we continue to work through living with the uncertainty and challenges of life and work under the cloud of Covid-19, finding ways to remain productive – and even more peaceful – are important.
We’d like to offer a few tips for maintaining business focus, productivity and whatever sanity you can hold on to as we transition from summer into fall and see what comes next.
Start by Limiting Your News and Validating Sources
One of the biggest sources of stress during this time is the onslaught of news we get all day, every day – from sources all across our lives, both online and offline. So start by limiting your news intake – by doing something as simple as turning off news notifications on your phone to limiting the amount of news you watch every day. By constantly receiving perpetually discouraging news, it feeds the feeling of hopelessness that reduces our motivation and joy.
Secondarily – and importantly – you should verify the sources of the news you are digesting. We’ll go out on a limb here and say that social media should NEVER be a news source – so skim right past anything you see on Twitter or Facebook that is shared as a “news” article. It might be – but it might not be. So get your news from legitimate, verifiable journalistic organizations that uphold fact checking standards – it will help you sift through information without being inflamed by disinformation.
Practice deep breathing to restore your mind and body
If you’re feeling the anxiety and having trouble focusing, try taking 10 deep inhales and exhales.
You could take this exercise a step further by focusing on slow, deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth, a practice called “diaphragmatic breathing”. Research has found that diaphragmatic breathing can help improve your ability to pay attention and increase positive affect, plus, it’s an exercise you can do anywhere, anytime you’re feeling excess stress, including during your workday at home or here at the Silicon Valley Business Center.
Connect with other people
We can’t recommend this enough: we are social animals, and spending day after day, week after week, month after month primarily isolated from other people is draining mentally and emotionally.
Fortunately, that’s where the Silicon Valley Business Center can help: our business community consists of over 1,000 members, clients, vendors and guests – so joining with even a basic Internet Cafe membership can give you the opportunity to stop in any time, work in our invigorating atmosphere, enjoy a cup of Peet’s coffee, and mingle with other people.