Quotidian Address

Your thoughts mirror my own surprisingly closely. Despite building good habits, consolidating progress at work, and growing in my relationships, it still feels like I'm mostly going nowhere. Is it a paradox if we progress but don't feel like we're going anywhere? Does it mean that we aren't progressing in the directions which matter, even if we are on our goals? Which leads us back to the old chestnut, which directions matter in the end? Perhaps it is due to the COVID-19 constraints, this fishbowl feeling of there being a limit to the progress we can make (despite our massive fortune in having professional and personal opportunities even still). Or perhaps it is just for lack of stimulation of the normal kind, changes in experiences which help imprint memories and thereby serve as the underlying rhythm of advancement. Perhaps we are progressing, but are simply lacking the contextual tools to measure it? I think your idea of a more targeted blog is a good one. Maybe even...

It is not my turn to post, but I'm hoping you'll forgive me the indiscretion. I've been thinking about progress. The feeling of moving forward is something that really motivates me - it's what I like about video games, that in essence they provide a concentrated sense of that feeling of growth and progress. One of the difficulties during COVID has been a weakening of that sense of progress: when you're a hamster in a wheel, the view never changes, and it's hard to feel like you're moving forward. I think that's why I've found myself reading more popcorn books and playing more games in this period, as I miss a feeling of advancement in my life. I'm not sure my feeling of lack of progress is justified. As you know, we've recently bought a house, and work has been busy: in many ways I am very lucky. Still, when I spend all day every day in the same place, I think it makes me feel stationary in more ways than one. It also reflects that the frustr...

In truth I find I have not put this time to as good of use as I would like. My reading habits have tended towards popcorn, and overall my efforts and energy have largely gone into work. A key cause, I think, is the first factor on your list: Flexible work conditions and the temporal freedoms that come with them. I have found that factor to be a hindrance, rather than a help. Work has been busy for me, partly because I'm temporarily filling two jobs and partly because with the sudden move to remote work there have been a host of management issues to resolve as everyone figures out new ways of doing things. Working from home has blurred the boundary of work and life in a way I find difficult. That is somewhat my fault, I think: I could do better about drawing a hard line between the two. It was easier when I could get to work, sit at my desk, and be in my work headspace for the next ten hours or so. From home, even when I try, the fact that it is at my home environment tends to mix t...

One thing I have appreciated about the enforced self-isolation that has come with the pandemic has been the quiet. I'm not talking about a reduction in purely physical sound, although there is that as well, but the reduction in the mental noise in my head. The cacophany of warring ideas and opportunities that used to fill my mind, aspirational habits, goals of making new friends in a new city, restaurants to try, gyms to sign up for, all of these have dimmed to a quiet murmur. Now, it takes quite a lot of effort to initiate any new endeavour and so I find myself taking careful aim at the few I care about and slowly building out systems and habits to support just those. I hope that after we are able to go a little more I am able to maintain this sense of quiet and purpose. To do so, perhaps I should reflect on where it comes from. Some contributing factors surely include: Flexible work conditions and the temporal freedoms that come with them. No social pressure to go out and d...

I worry we can't put the genie back into the bottle. I look around this weekend, and people are leaving social distancing behind them: streets are busy, people are out. Restaurants aren't fully open yet, but I understand in provinces where they have reopened they are packed. Even the recent protests seem to suggest attention is moving to new things, past COVID (though there is a relationship, given the pattern of impact COVID has had in the U.S.). Attention spans are short; people move on. We see this in all sorts of things, from fashion to video games, and it takes a lot for crises to be different. COVID has been a heck of a crisis, but if there is a second wave, I don't know if countries can get people back in their homes, especially now that it's summer. Social distancing one is a tough new experience, that people can try to fight their way past: doing it a second time is a grind. Part of me wonders if that's ok. The first round of social distancing let ...

I'd like to echo your sentiments from the last post. It has been hard to be productive during this whole pandemic, though the reason for this has changed throughout. Initially, there is always the shock of it and the coming to terms with our new workflows. Then there was the low underlying level of anxiety as we watched the terrible numbers rise. The stress as the numbers stabilized and we came to grips with the interminability of self-isolation. And now, in the first denouement, there is a feeling of confusion - are we safe to start going back? Where are the lines? All of it down to uncertainty. Even at the best of times I struggle to be productive and throughout this whole experience, I have certainly gone through the stages above and used them as excuses (perhaps rightfully) to delay engaging with my larger goals and aspirations. As spring comes, then, and with it a start to what may be the end of the first wave (though who truly knows) I am working on building better systems...

My turn to apologize for a late post - despite spending all my time at home these days, I'm actually finding myself less productive on the home front, rather than more. As the boundaries between work and home blur I am finding it harder to work on things in the middle. For me, the economic consequences of all of this can be split into a few buckets. First, there are firms experiencing short-term impacts that will basically return to the original trend as soon as possible: demand builds up during social distancing, but as soon as limitations are eased the industry recovers. Hairdressers and pet groomers are clearly this (I don't think people are suddenly realizing they enjoy cutting their own hair or their dog's), and more controversially I suspect restaurants and broader leisure are too. I think a lot of people are pining to go out for dinner, and will do so as soon as they can. Firms with little liquidity or safety margin may still go bankrupt in this bucket, but if the...