New Patient Story

I joined Providence's marketing group during COVID and work primarily remotely from home. As a new, eager caregiver, there was a lot of transformation needed and I could contribute. Like many others, my zeal erased my routine and blurred my boundaries between home life and work life. My 'lunches' were being eaten at 2pm or 3pm. I'd eat lunch and dinner at my home office desk, saying to myself, "Meal preparation is a break, right? Because I'm standing." I learned I was missing the mental and physical break. There's a reason breaks are required for some roles or regulated. Now I understand. Without taking a break, I'd burn my mental creative or fuel and have less for the next day. I'm not perfect, but I'll take a 8 minute walk around the block if I have 10 minutes before my next meeting. 10 minutes is not enough time to make progress on analysis or compose a presentation, but it's enough to replenish fuel for the next Teams meeting (with analysis and writing after that). [OK to publish my story, but anonymously please]