Pain and Fatigue Management

Do you struggle to keep up at work? Has pain and fatigue prevented you continuing to work? Do you struggle to meet deadlines? Does your memory and concentration lag under stress at work? Pain and fatigue have a huge impact on work capacity and are often not recognised because it is an invisible disability. Here are some strategies dealing with pain and fatigue at the work to feel useful and enjoy work again.

To maintain stamina during the day aim for flexible scheduling. As Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis said: ” If I stick to this may vaguely, I will get more accomplished.” This means taking breaks every hour to stretch, easy access from sitting to standing, flexible hours such as part-time and/or casual work, working from home where you can pace yourself and self-employed work.

Work in a quiet ergonomic environment with good lumbar support , reduced glare from the computer screen and the screen at eye level. Speech recognition systems reduce the stress on joints limiting the use of the mouse and take the hard work out of typing. They are easy to use and quite reasonably priced.

To enhance concentration and memory schedule a difficult tasks for peak times during the day such as early morning and early evening. Write tasks down and use electronic organisers. Allow training time to prepare for difficult tasks and schedule breaks to stretch ,breathe, have a healthy snack and freshen up.

To deal with stress prepare for work problems before they arise such as deadlines. Have access to support people either by phone or in the workplace. Good communication solves many work problems that where they can’t be solved use relaxation techniques and meditation to deal with the emotions.