Case Study

When You Just Can't Juggle It All

Susan, a CBL client, broke the wrist of her dominant hand. The break was quite severe and required that she have surgery to insert a plate in her arm. Between the pain killers and the challenge of working with her non-dominant hand, Susan had no choice but to slow down. She simply could not physically do everything she was accustomed to doing before her injury.

As president of a three-person company, she did not have staff to pick up the slack. At every turn, she had to make a conscious decision about which tasks were most essential and which she could let go. In the process, Susan discovered how much extra work she had been doing and how much energy she was wasting doing unimportant things. Her accident taught her some very valuable lessons.

For example, she learned that she had to think carefully about what she could wear. It wasn't about fashion, it was about ease of on and off and what would fit over the cast. Since her clothing choices were limited, decision-making was easier and quicker.

She had to eat much more slowly, since she is not as well coordinated with her left hand. She noticed that she was more relaxed and refreshed at the end of the meal.

She had to ask for help doing the things that she couldn't do on her own and realized that others can do certain things as well, or better, than she could.

She had to prioritize her activities. Since she couldn't do everything, she had to be thoughtful about what was most important and what couldn't wait or be eliminated from the "to do" list.

She discovered that having to do everything 'wrong' handed was exhausting. She learned to forgive herself for not being able to do everything and, for doing some things, less than perfectly.

And, she learned to laugh when things didn't work out exactly right.

In her words, "It was basic survival – food, shelter, safety. The rest just had to wait."

Consider this: If your physical capacity was limited by an injury, what activities would you stop doing and what activities would you keep doing, no matter what?

Use this simple exercise the next time you need a re-entry strategy, or for times when you simply have to slow down. Let me know how it works for you.