How To Keep Productivity And Motivation During The War?
It is my first post on Medium this year. And it has nothing to do with Vue.js. That doesn’t mean I suddenly quit programming. I have a full-time job, which regularly provides me with coding challenges. Recently I was writing the E2E tests for the first time, which was painful. Also, I am currently working on a small pet project, where I’m trying to implement new features more flexibly and less stressful. I have a project board on GitHub, but no sprint goals or strict deadlines. Besides, I am a participant in the WWCode Kyiv Mentoring Program, where I met a talented and motivated mentee. I’ve been consulting her on her way to becoming a web developer, and I hope the process is insightful for both of us.
Today I want to talk about mental health and motivation during the war. It is hard to believe and accept, but more than a year has passed since the russian troops invaded Ukraine. Over this time, Ukrainians learned what russian people were capable of: while their propaganda machine was spreading lies, the opposition kept silent, and the whole world was watching how their ordinary young men were looting, raping, and mutilating innocent civilians. But it isn’t a movie — we cannot press a stop button or leave a cinema anytime we want.
I’ve been staying in Kyiv for half a year now. The winter here was severe: the residents faced and courageously endured frequent shelling, several total blackouts, and the risk of potential evacuation. As for me, for the last couple of months, I mostly stayed at home, suffering from fear and apathy. Every time I went shopping, I couldn’t get rid of the thought: what if the russian missiles target my building next time?
That affected my productivity and daily routine. After doing some work, I spent the rest of the day in bed. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t read books or watch movies. I couldn’t even use social media to distract myself. My feeds on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and even Linkedin are full of messages about someone’s death on the battlefield. When I look at their pictures, those brave women and men, lots of them were younger than me, my heart clenches in pain.
The human body reacts differently to stress. I’ve read an article where Ukrainian IT specialists describe how the war affected their productivity. Most of them say that they experience difficulties focusing on tasks. Many people had to leave their homes and look for new places to live and work. That caused a loss of a favorable working environment and a general worsening of working conditions. Some people complain about problems with concentration and memory. They procrastinate, continuously read the news, and worry about the safety of their family. Some specialists lost their jobs.
Admitting a problem
At the same time, fewer people claim their productivity, on the contrary, increased. Work helped them to distract from the news; they felt enough energy and motivation to earn more money to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces. I wanted to be one of them, but how? The first and hardest step was to admit the problem. I spent day after day trying not to think about the future, eating sweets to reduce stress, until one day, I weight myself. The number I saw shocked me. All at once I realized I needed to change my way of life.
Creating a plan
I asked myself: what can I do besides working and sleeping? The first thing that came to my mind was to increase physical activity. I set myself a goal to spend more time outside walking and running. On the 1st of March, I went for my first run this season. 2 km for 14 minutes — that was the result. I used to run 10km+ daily a few years ago. Now I had to start from the beginning. So I tried to be patient. Two weeks later, I was able to run 4 km. On the days free of running, I go to the gym or walk. I plan to get 8000 steps per day no matter what.
Sharing tiniest progress
Daniel Lieberman, a paleoanthropologist best known for his research on the evolution of the human head and body, wrote a book about physical activity. He claims that sharing information about what you do can help to save motivation and not give up. So, I posted a thread on Twitter about my progress and got a lot of positive feedback. Also, I use apps to visualize my work and get some stats. I loved Avocation: you can plant a tree and watch how it grows after you do a planned activity. Awesome.
Asking for help
This week I am having a short vacation. I have a job where management cares about the wellness of employees, but not everyone is so lucky. Many people in my country cannot afford a break during the war. They have to make for living and support their families. That is why the advice to quit a job and go to Peru does not make sense. At the same time, physical exhaustion and permanent fear of your life cause anxiety, sleep disorder, and other mental health issues. It seems like a blind corner, and the only one who can help is a psychotherapist. War experiences for soldiers and civilians are different, but there is one thing we have in common — we all are traumatized.
I did not mean to write a positive article. The honest answer to the question in the title is: there is no way to keep productivity and motivation while your nation suffers from violence you cannot imagine. I described a personal attempt to preserve the remains of mental health. I gained weight, and that was a signal for me to change my habits. I accept the possibility that my plan may not work. But I will enjoy the process, as long as I can, and that is what matters.
