{"id":6531,"date":"2016-07-11T20:57:06","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T15:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6531"},"modified":"2016-07-11T20:57:06","modified_gmt":"2016-07-11T15:27:06","slug":"theres-no-later-anymore-only-now-my-productivity-in-quarantine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=6531","title":{"rendered":"There\u2019s No \u201cLater\u201d Anymore, Only \u201cNow\u201d. That Realisation Has Done Wonders For My Productivity During the Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

F<\/span>riday the 13th is supposed to be an ominous, unlucky day. I can vouch for that, because in March 2020, my calendar came to an end on Friday the 13th (and a calendar coming to a stop can\u2019t possibly be a good thing \u2013 just ask the Mayans about 2012). The reason behind this is that March\u2019s Friday the 13th was the last time I bothered checking what date or day of the week it was, before going into a self-imposed quarantine, which soon bled into an enforced one. Since then, I haven\u2019t left the house for anything other than essential supplies, haven\u2019t touched any of my office clothes<\/a>, or even bothered checking what time I wake up or go to bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the little bubble that I inhabit with my girlfriend<\/a> in our apartment, time seems to have stopped, yet the signs of its inexorable march are evident if you know where to look: The bed needs to be made because it\u2019s been slept in another night, the beard on my face grows longer and longer, and potatoes need to be cooked before they sprout spores that make them look eerily close to the coronavirus molecules we\u2019ve been seeing on news channels. But despite these markers of the passage of time, every day feels like it\u2019s the same one, copied and pasted ad infinitum. It\u2019s like life is imitating art, and by art I specifically mean the movie Groundhog Day<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are some people who have taken this quarantine period as a gift \u2013 a gift of unlimited time that can be used on any number of personal projects<\/a> or self-improvement schemes. But, as I\u2019ve already explained, I cannot see the quarantine as a gift of time, because time for me has come to a grinding halt. With nothing to differentiate yesterday from tomorrow, my mind finds thinking in the long-term to be an unfathomable exercise. All I\u2019m aware of, all I can focus on, is today. And being forced to focus only on the present has had the unintended side-effect of making me more productive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the lockdown started, I had turned procrastination<\/a> into an Olympic-level sport. Starting a workout regimen? Let\u2019s wait until a Monday, and to be sure, let\u2019s wait for a Monday that falls on the first day of a month. Learn a new language? I have the rest of my life to plan a holiday to the country where they speak it, so let\u2019s just wait until that is on the cards. Try a new, time-consuming recipe instead of ordering a pizza? Pizza arrives in 30 minutes; I can always learn how to make it later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But now, there is no \u201clater\u201d. There is only \u201cnow\u201d. And now is a very weird time for us all. We\u2019re in the middle of a global pandemic, the likes of which none of us have seen in our lifetime. Friends and family have transformed from people whose company would brighten our day to mere pixels on a screen. The news, when you\u2019re brave enough to check what\u2019s on, is full of depressing, bleak headlines that do nothing but dash your notions of an exciting, Mad Max<\/em>-inspired apocalypse and replace them with a boring-but-still-scary dystopia. How could being in such an environment help productivity?

The pandemic hasn\u2019t helped my productivity, but shutting it out of my mind definitely has.<\/blockquote>
The pandemic hasn\u2019t helped my productivity, but shutting it out of my mind definitely has. I\u2019m one of the lucky ones, with a roof over my head and food in my fridge, who can afford to sit at home, switch off from the outside world, and just focus on getting through the day; or rather, the same day, over and over again. The best way for me to do that is by filling my time with activities that bring me happiness, and funnily enough, they are the same activities I was so keen on putting off when I thought I had more time to enjoy them. I\u2019m cooking<\/a> more, I\u2019m actually exercising daily, and I\u2019m trying to learn a new language through an app. Possibly for the first time since I moved out, my mother doesn\u2019t have to text me \u201cMaa ko bhool gaye kya?\u201d before I give her a call, because hearing from family is no longer just about touching base but also an act of self-care that lifts my spirits when I hear their voices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nationwide lockdown went on for months and even now many of us still spend most of the time at home. Thankfully, I\u2019ve found a way to cope. I\u2019ve stopped worrying about when this will end, because there are no more dates in my calendar. There is only today, and that\u2019s how I\u2019m going to get through quarantine. One day at a time.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some people have taken this year as a gift of unlimited time that can be used on any number of personal projects or self-improvement schemes. I am not one of them. All I\u2019m aware of, all I can focus on, is today. Curiously, this has done wonders for my productivity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":6532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10108],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coronavirus"],"yoast_head":"\nThere\u2019s No \u201cLater\u201d Anymore, Only \u201cNow\u201d. That Realisation Has Done Wonders For My Productivity During the Pandemic<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Some people have taken this year as a gift of unlimited time that can be used on any number of personal projects or self-improvement schemes. I am not one of them. All I\u2019m aware of, all I can focus on, is today. Curiously, this has done wonders for my productivity.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6531\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"There\u2019s No \u201cLater\u201d Anymore, Only \u201cNow\u201d. That Realisation Has Done Wonders For My Productivity During the Pandemic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some people have taken this year as a gift of unlimited time that can be used on any number of personal projects or self-improvement schemes. I am not one of them. All I\u2019m aware of, all I can focus on, is today. Curiously, this has done wonders for my productivity.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6531\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arr\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-07-11T15:27:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1588481207.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dushyant Shekhawat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"There\u2019s No \u201cLater\u201d Anymore, Only \u201cNow\u201d. That Realisation Has Done Wonders For My Productivity During the Pandemic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Some people have taken this year as a gift of unlimited time that can be used on any number of personal projects or self-improvement schemes. I am not one of them. All I\u2019m aware of, all I can focus on, is today. Curiously, this has done wonders for my productivity.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dushyant Shekhawat\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6531#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6531\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dushyant Shekhawat\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/933099a2338957592f7fff40263742db\"},\"headline\":\"There\u2019s No \u201cLater\u201d Anymore, Only \u201cNow\u201d. That Realisation Has Done Wonders For My Productivity During the Pandemic\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-11T15:27:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6531\"},\"wordCount\":841,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6531#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1588481207.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Coronavirus\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6531\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6531\",\"name\":\"There\u2019s No \u201cLater\u201d Anymore, Only \u201cNow\u201d. That Realisation Has Done Wonders For My Productivity During the Pandemic\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6531#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6531#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1588481207.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-11T15:27:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/933099a2338957592f7fff40263742db\"},\"description\":\"Some people have taken this year as a gift of unlimited time that can be used on any number of personal projects or self-improvement schemes. I am not one of them. All I\u2019m aware of, all I can focus on, is today. Curiously, this has done wonders for my productivity.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6531#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6531\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6531#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1588481207.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1588481207.png\",\"width\":1520,\"height\":850},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6531#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"There\u2019s No \u201cLater\u201d Anymore, Only \u201cNow\u201d. That Realisation Has Done Wonders For My Productivity During the Pandemic\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arr\u00e9\",\"description\":\"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/933099a2338957592f7fff40263742db\",\"name\":\"Dushyant Shekhawat\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1f954968c96ac296f8a855e9f7c24b2da221736e30aceb00a9cb1016fec0291f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1f954968c96ac296f8a855e9f7c24b2da221736e30aceb00a9cb1016fec0291f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1f954968c96ac296f8a855e9f7c24b2da221736e30aceb00a9cb1016fec0291f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dushyant Shekhawat\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?author=43\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"There\u2019s No \u201cLater\u201d Anymore, Only \u201cNow\u201d. That Realisation Has Done Wonders For My Productivity During the Pandemic","description":"Some people have taken this year as a gift of unlimited time that can be used on any number of personal projects or self-improvement schemes. I am not one of them. All I\u2019m aware of, all I can focus on, is today. Curiously, this has done wonders for my productivity.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6531","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"There\u2019s No \u201cLater\u201d Anymore, Only \u201cNow\u201d. That Realisation Has Done Wonders For My Productivity During the Pandemic","og_description":"Some people have taken this year as a gift of unlimited time that can be used on any number of personal projects or self-improvement schemes. I am not one of them. All I\u2019m aware of, all I can focus on, is today. Curiously, this has done wonders for my productivity.","og_url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6531","og_site_name":"Arr\u00e9","article_published_time":"2016-07-11T15:27:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1520,"height":850,"url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1588481207.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Dushyant Shekhawat","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"There\u2019s No \u201cLater\u201d Anymore, Only \u201cNow\u201d. That Realisation Has Done Wonders For My Productivity During the Pandemic","twitter_description":"Some people have taken this year as a gift of unlimited time that can be used on any number of personal projects or self-improvement schemes. I am not one of them. All I\u2019m aware of, all I can focus on, is today. Curiously, this has done wonders for my productivity.","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dushyant Shekhawat","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6531#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6531"},"author":{"name":"Dushyant Shekhawat","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/933099a2338957592f7fff40263742db"},"headline":"There\u2019s No \u201cLater\u201d Anymore, Only \u201cNow\u201d. That Realisation Has Done Wonders For My Productivity During the Pandemic","datePublished":"2016-07-11T15:27:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6531"},"wordCount":841,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6531#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1588481207.png","articleSection":["Coronavirus"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6531","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6531","name":"There\u2019s No \u201cLater\u201d Anymore, Only \u201cNow\u201d. That Realisation Has Done Wonders For My Productivity During the Pandemic","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6531#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6531#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1588481207.png","datePublished":"2016-07-11T15:27:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/933099a2338957592f7fff40263742db"},"description":"Some people have taken this year as a gift of unlimited time that can be used on any number of personal projects or self-improvement schemes. I am not one of them. All I\u2019m aware of, all I can focus on, is today. Curiously, this has done wonders for my productivity.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6531#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6531"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6531#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1588481207.png","contentUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1588481207.png","width":1520,"height":850},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6531#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"There\u2019s No \u201cLater\u201d Anymore, Only \u201cNow\u201d. That Realisation Has Done Wonders For My Productivity During the Pandemic"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/","name":"Arr\u00e9","description":"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/933099a2338957592f7fff40263742db","name":"Dushyant Shekhawat","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f954968c96ac296f8a855e9f7c24b2da221736e30aceb00a9cb1016fec0291f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f954968c96ac296f8a855e9f7c24b2da221736e30aceb00a9cb1016fec0291f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f954968c96ac296f8a855e9f7c24b2da221736e30aceb00a9cb1016fec0291f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dushyant Shekhawat"},"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?author=43"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1588481207.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}