Earlier this week, I burned my right hand.
I’m a rightie, so this was pretty catastrophic for both my productivity and my mental state.
Simple things like opening my car door (let alone driving) were suddenly difficult.
How do you deal with sudden physical setbacks?
I’m fortunate enough to be able to (somewhat) write left-handed, but what about the rest?
- Try to find a way (ANY way) to reframe the problem in your mind. I was terrible at this, and had to work really hard at hacking my brain.
- Figure out what you need to do, and how you can adjust to get things done. Just because you want to do something doesn’t mean it can get done at this exact moment in time.
- Be patient with yourself.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for more time at work, or help at home. I tried to warrior through most of the day after the burn happened, but ultimately, it was useless for both myself and my employer for me to be so unproductive. Vacation days exist for a reason, and I had to use 2.5.
- I also had to swallow my pride at home. Nate had to help me left and right, but ultimately, it made my life manageable.
- When my dominant hand is healed, I know now to keep doing things with my other hand – just in case.
- I also stocked up on emergency supplies, because not having them would be terrible if another accident occurs (and mean fewer excruciating hours with my hand in a stove pot of ice water….)
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