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- Hacker News
- I haven't had a stroke but I did get a nasty tropical mono when I was young. You never quite recover from that one. I've got ibs since. My stomach just gets tired and stops. My mental focus feels the same. I sleep 9 hours a night, often 10 and I'm still tired.
I feel I always have less stamina than other people.
So this list is close to what I have always preached.
Time as in energy is my most precious resource.
Don't let processes suck the life out of you. They're there to serve the people not the other way around.
by keyle - > HEADPHONES, blinders, and 'No'. Eliminate unwanted inputs at the earliest point of entry.
Open-floor offices, non-stop emails and chat messages, several meetings scattered throughout the week and the day.
This kills productivity and increases stress and fatigue for people that need to concentrate to work on complex stuff. There's also the time you need to properly switch contexts.
by boobsbr - I had a stroke roughly eleven years ago. When the stroke started, I got really creeped out. I was in an elevator and I thought a stranger was reaching around me from behind to grab me. It was my right arm. I cracked a joke about it, I didn't know it, but I wasn't soeaking. Just mumbling and making creepy gutteral noises when I thought I was laughing. Then the face droop. Followed by my right hand becoming locked in a fist. It took months on rehab to get it open. And it lost a lot of function.by wedgel
- Interesting to see all the people in this thread who had a stroke. I had a mild and then moderate cerebellar stroke within a 7 day span about two years ago. I remember being on the stroke neurology floor of the hospital with a lot of bed ridden people who had also suffered them. I know because, within 24 hours, I was doing hourly walking laps with my nurses because I was bored. In other words, I was one of the lucky ones. Within a week I was back at work — not because I felt pressured to by them, they were completely understanding, but because I had no more symptoms that were experienced simply because I was sitting down to work.
I also see some advice about listening to your body after the fact, which I fully agree with. In my case, without going into too much detail, the stroke might not have happened if I had listened to my body beforehand, as it was caused by an injury I could have prevented.
So if I could give any advice from this place of experience it would be to listen to your body, and try to hear it when your fears and ego are shouting.
by hotpotat - For those in workplaces that treat you well. One suggestion that is not in OP: Tell others, explain, expand, give presentations on what you went through. Not only will it help your environment understand WHAT you are doing, they then are also able to understand the WHY. I've had my share of colleagues with afflictions. Your environment must know to understand! Otherwise, you are only allowing them to react to resulting situations, without understanding of the why. Second order benefit is that if people would do this more, general kindness towards how personal situations influence business situations would rise. We need more kindness, from understanding each other. (I understand this is an advice that does not work for those workplaces where HR is the enemy, the boss is their to get you, co-workers are in a free for all for bonuses and promotions. I hope most of us are not in that kind of work situations.)by wjnc
- Strikes close to home. 8 years ago I was in a bike accident that took me out for 4 months. I instantly felt dumber. The headaches became a fact of life, and the need to get out of the house early in the day to avoid brain fog creeping in became a routine.
It... sucks. I've still progressed my career and made significant strides, and come to appreciate things that I never would have noticed if I kept on my previous trajectory, and while I don't think about it much anymore, for years it ate at me.
by OsrsNeedsf2P - Had a stroke 2 months ago at 55, after an entire life (professionally since I'm 16) as a dev. I mostly followed these rules apart from when I got dragged into a project that was sufficiently interesting that I started overworking. 12-14h days.
Just don't do that. I used to do that just fine and that's why I thought I was OK. I mean, I USED to go on in huge coding benders, did'nt I ? Well apparently not at 55, when the pressure has been on for months instead of weeks.
Other things to watch -- diet! With the work came less free time, put on weight etc and all the good habits I had built for years, disappeared.
And the worst bit you can think of is "Oh but I'm so CLOSE to being done, I'll just fix it up later when I can relax". Just don't.
I lost all sensation on the right side. It is coming back slowly. I can still work, didn't lose speech or mobility or strength, I consider myself super-mega-lucky in that.
by buserror - Suffered a stroke in 2004 (migrainous infarction). Became half blind. Rested for a good year. Became a photographer for 8 years, then switched back again to software development. From then on, the limits were: WFH only, limit stress, run away from job if things go bad again. Nap if brain feels exhausted. Sleep, more and better. 20 years later (53yo), I'd say I'm doing great! Also fitness helps remind me to take care of the body...by weddpros