I recently suffered a fairly debilitating back injury. I’m on a road to recovery thanks to a very capable physiotherapist, but the injury has wreaked havoc on my time management, cost me countless hours, and really left me feeling short-changed in terms of what I might have achieved.
The cause of this is that any position other than laying on my back can be intensely painful. But it occurs to me there are still things I can do while laying on my back.
Even as I read this I can detect a level of my own workaholic neurosis. Yes, my body needs to rest. Yes, there are things I want to do. No, I may not be able to accommodate both situations at once. But I can try.
Step 1 – Accept my limitations
Working at a desk or standing is no longer viable. Lying in bed is my basic option. I have to accept that until I’m properly recovered, things aren’t going to move at the rate I want them to.
Step 2 – List my abilities
What can I do while I’m not 100%? Lots, really. I can write on Evernote on my phone. I can read. I can use my laptop to access the internet. I can make phone calls. I can create documents and I can delegate.
Step 3 – Focus on what I really want to do
One good thing about this situation is it forces me to reevaluate. If I’m using so much of my life for work, am I doing what I really want to do? Am I doing what matters?
If I only had 5 productive hours a week, what would I spend them on? What about 10? What about 20? Limitation forces focus.
Step 4 – Identify what is practically stopping me from doing what I want to do I want to finish a novel. Is there a reason I can’t do that on my back? In a sense, yes. My document is on my desktop computer and I need to be sitting upright to access it. But it’s as simple as moving the Word document to a laptop or transportable device where I can access it while reclining.
Step 5 – Force yourself to take action
We all know how this is done. Count to 5. Then on 5, do what needs to be done to restructure your environment to make it work for you even in spite of your illness or injury.
