{"id":150076,"date":"2020-02-14T02:00:49","date_gmt":"2020-02-14T10:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/?p=150076"},"modified":"2020-02-27T11:51:24","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T19:51:24","slug":"how-to-manage-chronic-illness-at-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/how-to-manage-chronic-illness-at-work\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Tips to Manage a Chronic Illness at Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did you know that, according to the National Health Council<\/a>, 133 million Americans are affected by a chronic illness? That\u2019s more than 40% of the population! Given those numbers, chances are that you know someone dealing with a chronic illness or are dealing with it yourself, which is defined as “a disease that persists for a long time<\/a>” like arthritis, asthma, and cancer<\/a>. As much as chronic symptoms can negatively impact your life, you can still live a full life and have a meaningful career.<\/p>\n

We recently spoke with Nicole Lapin<\/a>, New York Times<\/em> bestselling author and former CNBC anchor, who\u2019s speaking out about her journey with migraines<\/a>. With Lapin’s expert advice, we compiled a list of tips to help you navigate your career with a chronic illness.<\/p>\n

Be prepared<\/strong>
\nThere\u2019s always a common misconception that you can just \u201cget over it,” but just like you can\u2019t recover from a cold without tissues, cough drops and plenty of juice, you can\u2019t recover from or cope with a chronic flare-up without some help. Know that rough days are bound to happen, but if you\u2019re prepared, you can deal with them and get back to work. Keep a stash of your pain-relief essentials at your desk \u2013 whatever you need, make sure it\u2019s on hand.<\/p>\n

Get creative<\/strong>
\nA chronic illness can change a lot of things, but sometimes, those changes can be for the better. Lapin says \u201cFor me, it was really important to reframe how I was feeling about my career.\u201d That means accessing your job, your goals and your dreams. Decide if what you\u2019re doing now is working for you, and if it isn\u2019t, that frees you up to explore other options. Lapin encourages everyone to \u201cthink of new ways to excel” because those new ways might lead you to your next big success.<\/p>\n

Inform your boss and HR team<\/strong>
\nThis is a big one but take a deep breath: you can do this. Explain the situation, what it can mean for you physically or mentally. Have a plan for what accommodations you\u2019re asking for and suggestions on how to integrate these into your daily work routine. There may be a little negotiation here, but most people will appreciate that you came prepared with solutions! For more talking points, helpful tools for a variety of chronic illnesses and details of your rights as an employee, check out the Job Accommodation Network<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Talk to your co-workers<\/strong>
\nMany chronic illnesses are also invisible illnesses, which means your teammates may be seeing just your symptoms, and not what\u2019s actually going on. It\u2019s your decision how many people you tell as well as how much you tell them, but it will help you to feel better knowing that you have someone in your corner. Don\u2019t feel pressured to make it a long conversation; rather, a series of small chats can be just as beneficial and have just as big an impact in helping your co-workers understand your situation.<\/p>\n

Take care of yourself<\/strong>
\nSelf-care is all over social media at the moment, but when it comes to caring for a chronic illness, self-care is non-negotiable. Yes, getting enough sleep, drinking water, meditating or doing yoga is great, but there are so many other important things too. Going to the doctor and speaking with a therapist are forms of self-care as well! Listen to your body and give it what it needs. When you\u2019re in a good place physically and mentally, you\u2019ll work more efficiently and more accurately. There\u2019s a reason that flight attendants tell you to put your own oxygen mask on first. As Lapin says, \u201cYou can\u2019t be of service to anyone if you\u2019re crashing and burning yourself.\u201d Take care of yourself. Then, you\u00a0can shift your focus to others.<\/p>\n

Look ahead<\/strong>
\nThere will be rough days that make it difficult to keep up your current work schedule, but Lapin recommends looking forward to those symptom-free days. Visualize yourself doing your favorite hobbies or working on your passion project. Brainstorm ideas for small steps that could help you achieve your overall goal. Picture yourself lying on a beach for your next vacation. Whatever you do, focus on future wins to get you through the current pain.<\/p>\n

xx, The FabFitFun Team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":"Did you know that, according to the National Health Council, 133 million Americans are affected ...","author":273040,"featured_media":150158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,5,573,260],"tags":[],"thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/static.fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/14103516\/chronic.png","thumbnail_url_middle_card":"https:\/\/static.fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/14103516\/chronic-386x200.png","formated_date":"February 14, 2020","category_name":"Wellness","category_icon":"https:\/\/d3vodd1ws13xud.cloudfront.net\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/10113835\/health-2.svg","author_name":"","trending":false,"sponsored":false,"random_color":"#d8ea72","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150076"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/273040"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}