These last few months, many of us have changed our work situations. We’re in a situation where we have lost jobs, lost clients, or forced to choose between being there for our families and making money.

The anxiety of being stuck at home for so long is challenging on its own, never mind the added stress of having to reprioritize and rethink what it means or feels to have a productive day.

One of the things I’m trying to do is:
reframe my work as a habit, not individual tasks.

I have several different projects and work I’m in the middle of– Caveday, a few design clients, my own projects, my personal newsletter, annual goals, etc.

Before COVID-19, many of us judged our days based on our productivity and output. Our moods and sense of value are based on how we’re contributing to our work or teams. But having kids or not, our outputs are all suffering right now. Our time is condensed.

It’s helped me to redefine accomplishment in terms of commitment and focus. Did I spend a few minutes of focused time on those projects and goals every day? Did I study my flashcards for 10 minutes? 15 minutes of exercise? 20 minutes of progress for that client?

I can put an X in that box, and keep that chain of X’s every day. Smaller progress, but more consistency. We made a downloadable checklist to help with that reframing.

We’re all doing less right now.

There’s no expectation that we should be pushing ourselves harder during a crisis.
Remember that. We are all still in crisis mode. It’s ok to do less.

But if you’re like me and need to feel productive and accomplished to feel useful and of value, make this small shift:
Do less, but do it more regularly.

Caveday is a company aimed at improving your relationship to work. We write regular posts on Medium and send out monthly newsletters with productivity tips, life hacks, and recommendations. Sign up for the mailing list here.

Jake Kahana is a cofounder of Caveday. Sign up for his personal emails, called “The Email Refrigerator” here.