Sometimes just surviving is the goal.
My time in Chiang Mai has been defined by the worst flood the city has ever seen. For 4 days I was trapped in my apartment with no power or running water.
As the self-proclaimed ✨Personal Development Girlie™✨ I am, I made big plans for myself.
To-do lists, digital detox, ambitious goals - I was ready to maximise the unexpected downtime.
As the days went on, I realised that I was becoming less and less motivated to do absolutely anything.
1️⃣ Day 1: Optimistic, working out, doing work. Great!
2️⃣ Day 2: Focus wavering, watching the water level, reading.
3️⃣ Day 3: Tired, strategising in what order to eat food, trying to keep cool (mentally and physically).
Seems sort of obvious right? But I was frustrated with myself for not making the most of this time.
The flood forced me to strip away my usual metrics of success.
💕 If I stayed positive and made it to the next day, I'd have been as productive as I could have asked for.
→ Sometimes, just making it to tomorrow is the biggest win.
→ Productivity isn't always measured in tasks completed.
→ Staying alive is the ultimate daily achievement.
This shift in perspective was surprisingly liberating. Each morning became a celebration, not the start of a productivity race.
Now, as the water is going back down and I've managed to escape to higher, more powered ground, I'm taking this lesson with me:
Every day that you've stayed alive, you've objectively won. Everything else is just a bonus to be proud of. Celebrate each extra achievement, because it was NOT a given from the start.
So, I suppose I did manage to stay productive after all, by redefining what productivity meant in my circumstance!
That's a win in my book. 🙌🏼