Love to hear your reflections and aspects of your journey where work/chronic illness is concerned.
I retrained alongside breaking the chronic pain cycle because I had full responsibility for my mortgage (no insurance, no sick pay and no immediate family to help). Aspects of it paid off (I managed to generate an income whilst navigating becoming my own advocate and prioritising my health above even generating an income). Still, though, I went at it hustle hustle hustle, must get clients, must do all the work to attract clients and push myself far.the lockdown taught me some mighty big lessons on this (it was the 2nd time I lost my income in as many years) and I’ve eventually learned to no longer do this (found this to be a great challenge). It became clear to me a few years ago that I would never work full time again (I’m not convinced we’re meant to when you look at it from a health & life/balance perspective). Even though I’m well over 90/95% of the time I still know I won’t work beyond part time - the extra wellness gifts me the freedom to do more of what I want, what I love and a lot more of the opportunity that we convince ourselves working full time will bring (though I’ve had to make big decisions and do live life in ways many wouldn’t allow themselves to). I might do a similar blog post on this myself🙂
Thanks so much for sharing and glad you enjoyed this piece. It's so hard to balance generating an income with prioritising health at the same time without pushing ourselves too much. You're so right about working part-time - the 8-hour day is from the days when most people worked in factories and did manual labour. I don't think it's ideal for health or to live a fulfilling life by any stretch. Yes definitely do a post on this would love to read it!
I learned recently that breakfast was invented in the Industrial Revolution as a way to fuel up employees for a days work. After years of eating it for the sake of it because I thought it was best for me, I no longer eat until lunchtime (or whenever ok hungry which could be earlier or later) and my digestive system feels like it’s getting a better rest.
Lovely to hear from you again. Fantastic that you feel ready to return at a pace that works. As a fellow workaholic (and all around throw myself 110% into everything perfectionist), I totally empathise with the need to keep yourself in check. I wish you well with it.
Out of interest what brain retraining have you been doing?
Also how did you You Tube videos feature in your work life story? I have no idea how people with long covid find the energy to research, write, film, edit and upload content.
Exactly it's definitely tough to keep those traits in check - will see how I manage it this time around.
For brain retraining - I'm really enjoying Curable. One of my main symptoms since the beginning has been chronic chest pain and I'm noticing a shift in how I feel about the pain, which then has lessened the pain. https://www.curablehealth.com
Good question on Youtube stuff - I'd consider YouTube as work each video needs about 4-12 hours in total depending on how much research is needed. That's why I had to take a break for a bit because it takes a lot of cognitive energy! Hope to be back soon though 😊
I so needed to read this right now, Naïma. I’m also going to link to it in my newsletter. Being able to work again is a big goal of mine, and I am also doing brain retraining right now to aid in my recovery. I know that I will never have an executive-level job again, as you know the same. I am hoping 2024 is the year I can get a p/t job. I hope you will keep us posted on how it’s going?
Great article too. I was so pleased the writer put you, a patient, front and center from the beginning of the article. Well done, and thank you for speaking out publicly 🧡
Thanks so much, Amy glad you enjoyed this one and the article 💛. I agree - it's taken a while to accept the impact long COVID has had on my work, but finally coming to terms with part-time and a slower pace. Yes I'll keep you posted!
Amazing !
Love to hear your reflections and aspects of your journey where work/chronic illness is concerned.
I retrained alongside breaking the chronic pain cycle because I had full responsibility for my mortgage (no insurance, no sick pay and no immediate family to help). Aspects of it paid off (I managed to generate an income whilst navigating becoming my own advocate and prioritising my health above even generating an income). Still, though, I went at it hustle hustle hustle, must get clients, must do all the work to attract clients and push myself far.the lockdown taught me some mighty big lessons on this (it was the 2nd time I lost my income in as many years) and I’ve eventually learned to no longer do this (found this to be a great challenge). It became clear to me a few years ago that I would never work full time again (I’m not convinced we’re meant to when you look at it from a health & life/balance perspective). Even though I’m well over 90/95% of the time I still know I won’t work beyond part time - the extra wellness gifts me the freedom to do more of what I want, what I love and a lot more of the opportunity that we convince ourselves working full time will bring (though I’ve had to make big decisions and do live life in ways many wouldn’t allow themselves to). I might do a similar blog post on this myself🙂
Thanks so much for sharing and glad you enjoyed this piece. It's so hard to balance generating an income with prioritising health at the same time without pushing ourselves too much. You're so right about working part-time - the 8-hour day is from the days when most people worked in factories and did manual labour. I don't think it's ideal for health or to live a fulfilling life by any stretch. Yes definitely do a post on this would love to read it!
Thank you for your support and encouragement 🙏😍
I learned recently that breakfast was invented in the Industrial Revolution as a way to fuel up employees for a days work. After years of eating it for the sake of it because I thought it was best for me, I no longer eat until lunchtime (or whenever ok hungry which could be earlier or later) and my digestive system feels like it’s getting a better rest.
Lovely to hear from you again. Fantastic that you feel ready to return at a pace that works. As a fellow workaholic (and all around throw myself 110% into everything perfectionist), I totally empathise with the need to keep yourself in check. I wish you well with it.
Out of interest what brain retraining have you been doing?
Also how did you You Tube videos feature in your work life story? I have no idea how people with long covid find the energy to research, write, film, edit and upload content.
Exactly it's definitely tough to keep those traits in check - will see how I manage it this time around.
For brain retraining - I'm really enjoying Curable. One of my main symptoms since the beginning has been chronic chest pain and I'm noticing a shift in how I feel about the pain, which then has lessened the pain. https://www.curablehealth.com
Good question on Youtube stuff - I'd consider YouTube as work each video needs about 4-12 hours in total depending on how much research is needed. That's why I had to take a break for a bit because it takes a lot of cognitive energy! Hope to be back soon though 😊
I so needed to read this right now, Naïma. I’m also going to link to it in my newsletter. Being able to work again is a big goal of mine, and I am also doing brain retraining right now to aid in my recovery. I know that I will never have an executive-level job again, as you know the same. I am hoping 2024 is the year I can get a p/t job. I hope you will keep us posted on how it’s going?
Great article too. I was so pleased the writer put you, a patient, front and center from the beginning of the article. Well done, and thank you for speaking out publicly 🧡
Thanks so much, Amy glad you enjoyed this one and the article 💛. I agree - it's taken a while to accept the impact long COVID has had on my work, but finally coming to terms with part-time and a slower pace. Yes I'll keep you posted!