kill the shift manager in your brain
you are not wasting time you are vibing. you are not being unproductive you are literally chilling. make a grill cheese with cheddar cheese and slather a piece of the bread with some honey and maybe you'll relax
...ok but what if the shift manager is actually right
you are a minor so i will say this with absolute confidence as an adult: there is not a single time on the history of this planet that a shift manager has ever been right. and more seriously, in this metaphor: treating yourself like shit for not being productive doesn't actually make you more productive. it makes you treat yourself like shit.
How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell did wonders for me on deconstructing the "shift manager" in my mind. Doing "useless" things is valuable in a way capitalism can't put a price tag on.
Even if you have something that needs to get done (homework, bills, housework, project you want to work on, etc) treating yourself like shit doesn't help. Find a method that helps to get you transitioning to a new task. Some things to try (on their own or in combination):
Okay, I can have 5 more minutes of this, then I need to go do the thing
I'll set a 5 minute timer, and then I can decide to stop doing the thing, or keep going
I can have good snack/video game/etc once I finish the thing
I can have good snack/music/etc while doing the thing
I'll find a video/livestream of someone doing a similar thing so I feel like we're doing it together
I'll call a friend and we can chat/hang out in silence/whatever while I do the thing






















