Stresses at work with PCS
 

I'm in month 6 of my recovery and I've been at work since month 2 from part time to full time.

I'm struggling to a point now where if I do what I used to do in activity pre-injury, I'm going to break. I've limited my meetings to one in the morning and one in the afternoon if there are any scheduled. As well, I've limited my involvement in certain projects so my anxiety level doesn't get to an unmanageable level. I do two projects maximum per day. I also get periodic breaks in intervals of work so that my mind refreshes.

But now I find it difficult to keep to my schedule and my involvement due to the nature of the projects, and it's getting busier every day. Then there's emails. I get so irritated and annoyed with the volume and length of emails flying around. Sometimes I just cannot read them. And when I don't read them, I miss something important and it doesn't get addressed a certain way. Then I have to "let it go". I do a lot of that to preserve my sanity.

My therapist says to DO LESS and I'm having a difficult time to do that.

Any suggestions in how I can control what seems like a whirlwind of activity?

Can you switch to part-time for 6 months or a year to help promote your recovery?

Google "Pomodoro Technique"--it's a time-management system. I don't follow the whole thing, but I do two things from it.

1- I break my work day into 30 min blocks--25 mins of work, 5 mins of recovery (gentle stretches, bathroom break, mini-meditation, snack). I set schedule of what those blocks will be used for (email, returning phone calls, filing, etc.).

2- Find the "To Do Today" templates & print a bunch. They are broken up into a regular list & room for things that come up & need to be taken care of. If there is a task you need to do every day, enter that in the top part, then USE THEM EVERY DAY.

My first task every day is to review my list from the day before & add anything to the list that I know I need to do. I got out of the habit the last few days & realize I need to start again--my productivity went way up & my feeling of being overwhelmed went way down when I was doing it.It really does help.

Good luck.

I would actually like to take the year off! :)

I'm already working from home on Mondays, but even transitioning from quietness to busy-ness is creating havoc on my sensibilities.

Reading through the documentation now, this is exactly what I need! Thank you, leebeemi!! :)

I also discovered there's an Android app that is a virtual Pomodoro timer, with options to set Pomodoro length and rest periods!

http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/

Great! I've been lax in using the technique, even though I know it works. I have a long weekend, then back to work on Tues. I'm going to start again. I absolutely love my work, and I want to keep working, so I need to realize the importance of finding ways to do my job that fit my troubled brain. So far, my coworkers & boss have been supportive. I want to give it all I can without overdoing it--and sometimes I think I can, but others I feel like it's impossible. Any tool we can find that helps, well it's worth trying, right?

I have similar problems. Now that I am seeming (and feeling) more and more normal I am getting a different set of challenges, in that others (and to an extent myself) are starting to treat me as if I am fully recovered, when I actually still need to be careful.

Something that seems to be helping is that I sit down with my supervisor every two weeks and plan what hours and tasks I will be aiming to do over the next fortnight, with a very gradual increase over time. Then if I'm not up to something I can just say "sorry, it's not in my return to work plan, but I do hope to be able to help with that stuff soon" rather than having to take the responsibility myself and justify it in terms of symptoms etc.

Good luck! The fact that you are having this problem at all is I guess a sign of recovery, which is good - though when all you have to show for recovery is that you spend more time at work and are left equally knackered in the evenings it all feels a bit hollow for a while!