I have at other times in my life not been able to get a job, or only worked part-time but all of these have been short-lived & I have filled the time in many differing ways.
I'm not saying that now I am a stay at home Mum that I have oodles (love that word) of time on my hands, but I do find myself stuck in a "productivity" mindset. I have always been a " to do list" kind of person, so nothing has changed there, but now that I am scraping the barrel on my list & the jobs are getting less & less interesting, challenging, or desirable (ie stuff I just keep putting off but needs to be done -- such as sorting out the photo albums!) my days are getting to become rather routine & boring!
Here's a great video that addresses all of that...
I love to be creative, to be busy & do stuff. I love to re-engineer situations & make chaos into order. This satisfies me & makes me feel "productive." If my day consists of washing, fiddling on the computer, cooking, feeding & not much else (often because I don't feel like doing much else) then I have to deal with my thought processes of not being productive. Maybe this is an overly strong work ethic (hmm on second thoughts, I don't think I have that disease!) or the way I was bought up (idle hands create mischief) or a case of listening to myself instead of talking to myself, but maybe also I need to define what "productive" is so the guilts don't kick in & each day can be a productive day for me.
pro·duc·tiv·i·ty
[proh-duhk-tiv-i-tee, prod-uhk‐] Show IPA
noun
1.
the quality, state, or fact of being able to generate, create, enhance, or bring forth goods and services: The productivity of the group's effort surprised everyone.
When I use this definition I don't feel like most days are productive. When I searched the internet & found "7 drivers of workplace productivity" the seventh one really struck a chord with me. It was "measuring what matters." Re-defining productive as measuring what matters I think is a great revelation to help me see each day as productive.
1. My baby is feed, happy, loved, trained, clean, extended, provided for & safe.
2. Our home is clean, happy, welcoming, mostly tidy, warm & safe.
3. Our marriage is feed, nurtured, not taken for granted & fun.
4. I have some creative outlets that extend my brain & I have some thing to show for it.
I dunno, have I missed something? Am I on the right track? Will this redefinition actually help me to see things in a different light? Can I turn this into a to-do list so I can visually cross things off?
Does productivity need to be measured in "what did you do today?" Do productive things show up over time rather than in day increments? Does productivity have to be seen?
Is life made up of doing small things & hard things?
when you are tempted to underestimate the long term goals of motherhood because you have nothing "physical" to show for it, or a checked off to do list, just take a look at the kids who have a messed up mother, or no mother, and you will realize that you make a HUGE difference to the world.... to be encouraged, take a look at the grown up kids who had great loving mothers, and you will see the difference.......
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