When people make a big effort to do something, it can leave them tired in the evening. When many disabled people make a big effort, the after effects can last a lot longer than that.
People with mental health issues or anxiety disorders can push themselves to do something, only to have the knock-on impact hover in their minds for days.
People with physical health problems can push themselves to do something, only to be flattened by the effort and barely able to function the next day.
People with depression can push themselves to do something, only to find that the effort of masking can leave them hollow the next day or even longer.
And disabilities don’t come in tidy little boxes. (I can tick all of those boxes at various times.)
Yesterday, I travelled into London to spend my first day in the office for almost three years. It was strange, exciting, scary, wonderful, joyful, fearful.
The physical effort of driving for two hours there and two hours back (no way I could cope with the train yet!) put more strain on my concentration than I’ve had in a long time.
The physical effort of being on a different, less supportive chair with a desk not setup how it is at home caused a bit of a flare in my chronic back and neck pain. (My fault for not spending more time adjusting.)
The mental effort of smiling, being cheerful, engaging with people in a more casual, off-the-cuff, interruptive kind of manner stretched by introverted tendencies a chunk.
None of these is a reason for me not to have gone. None is a reason to find an excuse not to go another time. None is something that would prevent me doing it again.
But today is a tough day.
If you have disabled people working in your organisation, just be mindful that the impact of the things you (collectively) do may well be far greater than the impact you (personally) experience.
Make space for disabled people to feel able to recover well, whatever that looks like for them. Make space for them to be able to adapt: I had no idea which bits of yesterday would be hardest, but I know them now and I know how I would need to deal with it again.
Allowing our people to work, rest and recover in the best possible way will, in the short term and the long run, help productivity, loyalty and (ultimately) the bottom line.
This post first appeared on my Linkedin profile.