A Side Effect of the Covid-19 Pandemic? Reading Got a Lot Harder

I have actual data on my writing productivity to back this up. There's a chart at http://www.dahosek.com/writerly-resolutions-march-status-qua... which shows my progress on my novel for the month of March. Once the quarantine began, my progress collapsed. April has not been much better. My reading has not necessarily fallen off, but other productivity has.

It's not just reading/studying - even for those of who normally work from home, having the rest of the household around all the time is quite a distraction. I'm definitely not getting those large chunks of uninterrupted time where I'm at my most productive.

I noticed I've been much less focused and productive, but I figured it was due to being stuck inside with a lack of activity. Yes, I know going outside for exercise is technically allowed, but there's a difference between theoretically being able to do something and having it automatically built into your life (walking to do errands, etc.) Regretfully, I've never been someone who made a point to consistently exercise, but I've been recently committing to walk at least a mile each day.

I've noticed this in myself and others. There is so much novel (no pun intended) stuff happening to everyone now that, I think, there isn't the downtime needed to effectively pay attention/think the way we're used to.

At the end of my day I can usually switch out to side projects pretty easily. But now, that's MUCH less productive.

The past few years, I've been doing a lot of side-project type stuff during the train commute. The lockdown has made me realize how valuable it is being forcibly isolated from the internet by a daily train ride. With the internet at my fingertips, there are way too many distractions to productively work on writing a paper or reading a book.

I've done some reading but perhaps not as much as normal. What's not discussed here (and I'm clearly a single data-point) is that my "maker" projects (where I'm working with my hands) are more pleasurable and I think I've actually been getting more done with them. I usually listen to music or podcasts (I love my WorkTunes - https://amzn.to/2zkmXtc) so my mind is somewhat engaged while I'm building. I've noticed that many of my neighborbood's yards are maintained better than in previous years so maybe others are looking for a more physical past-time too?

I wonder how much of this is just the effort to get work done at home which is always a challenge for surely most people. You are just less accountable for what you do hour to hour and it's easier to procrastinate or do something else. A temptation every remote worker has to transcend (or bust).

The cancellation day care is a big factor for me.. but I apart from that u don't notice a difference

Anectdotedly, I've been extra productive in my writing/analyses.

I imagine lots of us are less productive because it's much easier to get away with not working.

Remote work is great but let's face it, humans aren't naturally inclined to make money for others without accountability. Some of us need motivation and supervision beyond a paycheck silently deposited twice a month.

An unfortunate consequence of human nature and, to some degree, western culture.

Seems to be behind a paywall?

Meh. Since this article is largely anecdotal, I might as well add my 'dote to the anec:

I'm on Book 5 of Dune (Heretics of Dune), averaging roughly one a week since this started. I read my weekly issue of The Economist throughout the week with breakfast.

For my "project" I'm studying up on STM32 low-power states, something I've wanted to do for ages and now have more free time. So I'm going back and fixing some of my projects to be more efficient. I've also finally figured out how to use Eclipse -- efficiently! -- on Linux with the ARM GCC toolchain. So that's a plus. Now I'm studying Silicon Labs Simplicity Studio. These are things that have been backing up on my project list for almost a year.

Also grinding through the Linux Networking Drivers book, but that's an effort.

So, I'm reading a lot, both technical and (pulp) literature. Granted, Herbet isn't Pynchon, but it's still reading.

EDIT: Yeah, this is a not-humble-brag, but what the hell!