Productivity is getting stuff done. Serendipity is the joy of discovery. Both are important for meaningful work. These days we are all stuck at home taking calls and attending meetings online. If we are looking for new opportunities, there is an additional pressure of looking our professional best, seeming excited by the uncertain future ahead and caring about another person’s incessant evaluation of you. 

Life does seem like one big job interview these days. We are never off. Always on is the name of the game in the 21st century and Zoom has turbo-charged things. Far from taking a break, most of us are what INSEAD Professor of organizational behaviour Gianpiero Petriglieri calls “panic working". 

We have pushed ourselves into even more demanding schedules. We feel compelled to conquer the Coronavirus crisis by accomplishing more than we are usually satisfied with. Working extra hard provides an illusion of control in times of crises, or when things are falling apart. Obsessive work and hyper-productivity also offer a false sense of comfort. 

If you identify as someone who is panic working, it might be time to take a short pause and reflect on what matters to you and why. You don’t necessarily need to prove to yourself or the world that you outworked the virus, powered by Zoom. 

It is important to remind ourselves that more work doesn’t mean better work and more meetings do not correlate with stronger output. Important things and seemingly urgent things are different, as the Eisenhower Matrix reminds us.