Why a Pandemic is Not the Time for that Big Project

There’s a lot of talk out there right now about how people are using their time in quarantine. With less social time and less required time out of the house, one would think that all that extra time would be devoted to learning new languages, starting podcasts, launching new businesses, writing the next great American novel.

But this is your reminder that now is not the time for that. We are in the middle of a pandemic. A literal global crisis. Those of us with kids are laughing at the lack of empathy people have when they talk about “all this extra free time.”

With stress and anxiety levels understandably at their peak, most of us need more time for self-care and escape.

Think about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. At the very bottom, we need food, shelter, water, warmth. There’s a lot of people right now worried about losing their home or uncertain they have the money for groceries. At the very top, self actualization. A place where we feel we are fulfilling our potential.

Writing a novel and any other big creative plan we might have would fall into this category.

When the rest of our lives feel uncertain, when our housing and food, and jobs, and relationships feel threatened, we cannot work our way up that hierarchy.

Right now, we are stuck in the bottom of the hierarchy.
We are all operating in survival mode.

Your novel can wait until you feel ready and capable of focusing on more than your next paycheck and meal. Do what you can to survive and relieve the stress and anxiety you have. Because we’re all feeling it.

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