Navigating Workplace Energy Levels

For most of my life, I've been the poster child for productivity and creativity, but in the last decade, I've become a strong advocate for "spoonies." I’ve even ventured into that territory myself, much to my surprise, but at some point, we all do, if we live long enough.

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Spoonie.? Spoon Theory.? Are those new terms for you? Especially as an employer? I’ll explain what it means, but first let’s look at what it means to the person living it.

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Spoonies WANT to be productive. They WANT to live a full life and have the energy to do all the things. They DON’T want to give up work they love and activities they enjoy. They WANT a good quality of life. They WANT to be able to live up to and enjoy their full potential, regardless of where that potential is on a scale on any given day. ?They may also be some of your most dedicated employees—fighting every day to make sure their work is done and done well and proud of their accomplishments…and hoping they managed all that without you ever knowing their inner struggle because they don’t want to be thought of as “less than” or have their opportunities limited or be given unimportant or boring work because you’re not sure they can do it.

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The good news—and often a paradox when it’s denied—is that it’s frequently easy enough to accommodate so that it’s a win-win for the employee and employer.

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Is that so hard to understand? Apparently, yes, based on what I see in both my casual and in my personal observations.

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I have come to understand that there is such a thing as "health privilege." There's probably a better word for it, but I haven't named it otherwise. Maybe that word is "ableism," but that word immediately raises hackles because people don't realize they can be ableist simply by not understanding what other people are going through and it can come from lack of exposure to other people's problems rather than a character flaw. People can certainly have "health privilege" without being ableist, but most people don't realize their health privilege or their ableism because they haven't experienced a downturn in health or an injury (yet) and can't imagine it. That doesn’t make them a bad person, just maybe a little oblivious to what other people silently deal with.

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Plus, even people with their own illnesses and injuries can still be ableist towards others, as odd as that might seem, because everyone’s illness or injury is their own and the circumstances are not universal. I'll never forget when I was 33, desperately trying to work after a serious back injury, and a 21-year-old secretary in her third trimester campaigned to have my medical parking space withdrawn at work because "if I can walk across the parking lot and up the crosswalk, she can, too!" (Eyes on your own paper, people!) I learned a lot from my injury in the 27 months it took to find the right doctor and begin to heal, including empathy for people hurting in ways I wasn't experiencing myself and often couldn't see, as there are many, many invisible illnesses and injuries.

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"Doing your best every day" looks different, every day. Maybe your 100% looks to other people like 10% of your norm today, and 100% tomorrow, and 75% the day after. We’re not robots, right? And I will applaud that effort more than I will for the person who has the capacity to give 100% but rarely does. I'm judge-y like that. My ex-nemesis in Acquisition used to tell me he could get away with any kind of goofing off as long as he carried a folder and walked really fast.

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But many of the people I know who are spoonies are still able to complete 100% of their workload with some tweaking for their illness/injury, and that’s why I think this is a worthy topic for a professional discussion here.

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One of the surest ways of knowing someone has health privilege ?and doesn’t realize it is the quizzical look on their faces when I mention "spoon theory." It doesn't take long for someone with a chronic illness or injury to become aware of the term. That's not an infallible rule of thumb, by the way, but most people I've met who live with daily life-changing illness or injury seem to know immediately what I'm talking about.

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I learned of it years ago through a friend who was trying to earn a living doing work she loved while trying to manage organ failure and was constantly bullied by her employer to do things that were physically anywhere from a mere hardship to impossible, in spite of her work from home being regarded as superior. She had performed often-applauded work from home when it was suddenly decided that her work could be done only from her employer’s office—because other people who did the same job were able to get to and sit in the office all day without being in severe pain; therefore, she should be able to, as well.? Then, when the pandemic hit, it was fine for her to do her excellent work from home again.? Now, it’s back to the office or quit, which has its own insurance issues for her. And given her medical condition, she will probably be out of the workforce permanently, about 15 years early.

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Do you understand better now what spoonies go through every day??? I hope so. How about the meaning of such an odd term?? If this is your first time hearing of spoonies, whether your energy reserves are full or not, I'll explain briefly and you can research the history of it from there.

"Spoons" represent how much energy it takes to perform normal activities, including showering, dressing for work, driving to work, making lunch, picking up the kids, writing a report, leading a meeting, etc. It varies for everyone, but a person in good physical and mental health may have, say, 25 or 50 “spoons” to get through their day. A person with a chronic illness, injury, or disability that zaps their physical and mental resources, including their energy levels, may only have 10 "spoons" to get through the same day. This system is helpful to explain their energy levels, but also to help them manage their day. If they wake up with only 7 spoons for the day, they have to plan which activities get their energy, and it writing that report and leading that meeting are the top two, there's probably nothing left for family or self when the workday is done.

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Is that annoying for you as a non-spoonie to deal with? Are you annoyed even having to hear about it? Well, yeah. Yeah, I know.? But think of how “annoying” it is for the person who lives in that body that's not as fully functioning as they'd like or as you yourself are used to. Not only do they get to deal with an illness or injury for the rest of their lives, probably, but they get to deal with people who don’t understand and others who don’t care.

#spoontheory #spoonies #workfromhome #backtotheoffice #telework #hybridwork #acquisition #contracting #chronicillness #disabilities #peoplewithdisabilities