How My Broken Ankle Healed My Work/Life Balance

How My Broken Ankle Healed My Work/Life Balance

By Charles W. Allen

Many hours of my youth were spent playing basketball.  Neighborhood pickup games, youth leagues, high school, into college intermural games – even into my graduate school years. As well, I very regularly played in competitive leagues at my local gym – continuing into my mid-30’s.  Over those many hundreds of games, I twisted, turned, rolled and severely sprained my ankles many dozens of times.  The legacy of those youthful injuries has resulted in the fact that I now have precious little connective tissue remaining in my ankles. As a result, I must be careful to watch each and every step, being completely in tune with each.

After an early Saturday lunch with a childhood friend a couple of months back, we were in such a hurry to get back to the house to catch the kickoff of the big game.  In the rush to the parking lot following lunch, I hurried down some steps… and, you guessed it.  I accidentally misplaced my foot on one of the concrete steps while hurrying down a steep stairwell - rendering one of those nasty action verbs to my ankle.  After a similar event in my youth, I would have quickly arisen to my feet… and walked away with a mild to moderate limp.  Not this time.  I painfully hobbled to the car, only to be driven by my friend to the orthopedist’s office.  This simple misstep sentenced me to eight weeks in a cast as well as few more in a walking boot.   

I determined to not let this misstep (sorry) negatively affect my life.  In fact, I challenged myself to make it a net positive in my life.  My solution was to treat my situation as if I were one of my own business clients.  After all, I’m constantly assessing businesses in order to unearth new ways for them to overcome obstacles, and to help them become more efficient, effective and profitable.  My new client was Charles Allen.

My biggest challenge was lack of mobility. I occasionally work from my home office.  Therefore, this was not too drastic of an adjustment. Having my home office on another floor of my house was a bit more problematic. The crutches were difficult to utilize on the stairs, so I initially found crawling to be less difficult.  Crawling to work was less than an idyllic solution, so I moved my base of operations to the kitchen table on our main floor.

As is the case with most households, our kitchen is the hub of most activities throughout the day. My wife, Beth, is not only the mother of our fifteen-year old daughter, MEA (Martha Elizabeth), but is also the Vice President of Client Relations of our company, The SafeBridge Group, P.C. Her work area (whenever working from home) is adjacent to the kitchen, and MEA spends time doing homework or watching TV in the nearby family room.  I chose to view this new dynamic as if I were moving from an isolated private office… onto a vibrant work floor.

Over the past few weeks, I couldn’t help but think of myself like Jimmy Stewart’s character in the Hitchcock classic Rear Window. No binoculars or suspicious characters. However, my injury forced me to view my surroundings in a more focused way.  What I saw was all the little things that Beth did for MEA, the company and our valued clients each and every day.  Tasks about which I was unaware, or thought were far easier to accomplish… I suddenly developed a deep and newfound appreciation. I found a great respect for all that she does, and how she does it – with such a genuine sense of love, care and purpose.

After having to step outside onto the back deck to make a confidential client call, I noticed what a wonderful late autumn day the creator had bestowed upon us.  I temporarily re-located my office from the kitchen table… onto the table on the deck. Instead of my usual background sound of business channels on the TV, I now was experiencing the true grandeur of Mother Nature’s wondrous soundtrack.  This new and stimulating surrounding caused me to think in a more open and creative manner… understanding even more limitless potentialities and opportunities for those whom I serve.

Since my cast made traveling to meet clients infinitely more difficult, I was able to use FaceTime to make video calls much more often.  In another case, I was able to determine when a client would be at their nearby branch office which was just an hour away. Naturally, I arranged a meeting during that time ‘window’. This spared me over six hours of additional travel time while delivering the identical profitable result for the client.

Being around my daughter for two to three more hours per day was such a blessing as well. I was able to assist her with a homework problem or two, ask about her day in a more detailed conversation… and delve more deeply into her interests, dreams, passions and concerns.  Occasionally, I was even able to break through the sullen and detached teenage facade and garner a hug every once in a while.

My injury also led to a wonderful bonding moment with my precious daughter.  I needed some additional room to store a filing cabinet of pertinent work files from the office while I would be working from home.  The ideal location was the guest bedroom next to MEA’s bedroom.  She had annexed this room like it was a wealthy unincorporated suburb in order to store what seemed like every toy that she’d ever owned. Of course, this lack of free space presented a challenge. With the holidays quickly approaching, we decided to sort the toys into the classic three piles: keep, donate and throw away.  Many hearts will be touched with the toys that were donated to a local children’s shelter, but none as much as mine to see how happy MEA was to be helping others.  Her smiles spoke volumes, much like the sheer size of the ‘donate’ pile. We happened upon the old Willie Nelson doll with which she and I role-played when she was in early grade school.  We acted out a scene with ‘Willie and the Gang’ about the gleeful kids opening these presents on Christmas morning. And, you guess it again! ‘Willie was designated to her sentimental ‘keep’ pile.

One major casualty of my injury was Beth’s and my planned vacation to beautiful Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  So instead, we took a “staycation” in a downtown hotel, had great meals in award-winning restaurants, spa treatments and the whole nine yards. I fully admit to the mistake of not turning off my personal cell phone, as I answered and responded to so many business calls, some from which I was unable to disembark for thirty minutes or more. On your wife’s and your annual ‘anniversary’ vacation, this is what is known as a “moment killer.”

So just how did my broken ankle change my work/life balance?  For starters, it allowed me to deeply recognize just how valuable, integral and special my wife is in greatly helping foster a well-functioning household and business. It allowed me to grow closer to my daughter, and possess a richer understanding of the amazing young woman she has become. It taught me that a greater embrace of technology - combined with my innate strategic planning orientation not only multiplied positive results for those whom I serve, but also… allowed me to do so in significantly less time. This proved to be a real game changer.  Now, I know that time off needs to truly be TIME OFF.  By changing my work environment, I was able to think differently, more openly and creatively. I’ve always been laser-focused, and harbor a real tunnel vision for my activities.  But now, I realize that you need to occasionally stick your head outside of the tunnel - making sure you’re still progressing in the right direction… rather than tunneling out the side of a cliff.

But my prized takeaway from this injury was that I needed to spend more quality time with family and friends. With less than four years until my daughter ‘flies the nest’ and heads off to college, I have decided to work an hour less per day, and share that time with her and Beth.  It may delay our retirements for a year or so. But, all time is not equal.  

This injury will not last. These lessons most certainly will. So, if it takes just a touch more time to return your call or message, please don’t take it personally. It just may be my working on that ‘balance.’