Moving Forward to A Different Future

My voice disappeared just over a week ago and I have felt rubbish ever since, but my mental health has stayed strong.

I want to share three ways I have been approaching this time of illness and being off work differently to usual and achieving better mental health results that might help you too.

Firstly I have allowed myself to truly be away from work recovering. Apart from when I have had to contact my line manager all my computers and my work phone have been switched off.

Normally I would have worried what might have been coming in via email. Not this time though. My automatic reply is clear who to contact if urgent and I have got over the need to be in control. I have done this by realising my priority is my recovery and going back as my healthiest best self. I need to work with my body, not against it, by reducing stress that might slow the healing. So if you’re off work too, but still checking your emails and fretting my advice turn off access to the work email whilst recovering.

The second thing I have done differently is planning for what to do in the five to fifteen minute chunks in the day where I have energy. Literally they are all I have at the moment.

I’m learning one AI skill a day. I did this by asking Gemini, the Google AI chat bot on my phone, to give me a 30 day plan of tasks lasting no more than 15 minutes each day for me to build my skills and learn more about using AI. I am starting each day and will continue, in my own time, when back at work.

The other thing I am doing in chunks is decluttering. Small tasks, sorting one shelf or space at a time.

What could you manage to do without hindering your recovery in a small chunk of time?

Thirdly I have been trying a new form of budgeting. I’m taking away monthly costs and then working out a weekly rather than monthly budget.  I am then adjusting on the basis of no travel and no Starbucks for the time I’m off.  This is enabling me to see how I can save the money that I’m not using, if I don’t go online scrolling.

What are you saving whilst out of action that can be used in a positive way when you’re back to health?

None of these are big things but that’s the point. When you’re ill you feel you can’t do anything but tiny things may be possible.