What if you didn’t have to work out to perform your recommended amount of physical activity? What if you could get home, look at your Whoop or FitBit, and see an activity level on par with an athlete, but all you did was go to work?
Sounds like a dream come true. You get to be fit without making dramatic changes to your daily life.
What if you could never have a rest day because your “workout” that is your daily life isn’t optional? What if the physical act of going to your office is another workout that pushes you to an activity level your fitness tracker considers a risk?
The above puzzle is what an untold number of disabled workers face as they juggle work demands, everyday life, and navigating the world around them.
This image is a screenshot of my Whoop fitness tracker from a typical day of working out and then going into the office. My fitness discipline and intensity combination has been described as “acting like the grim reaper is chasing you and is on your heels.” Yet, I had an activity that was more physically demanding than my daily battle with the Grim Reaper. What was that activity? A second workout? An impromptu MMA match in the office? Moving someone’s car by picking it up and lifting it?
(Perhaps sadly) None of those are the culprits.
That second activity was simply leaving the office to get lunch in an accessible part of the city.
Meeting someone for lunch took more out of me than my time at the gym.
Scenarios like mine are prime examples of why hybrid work has proven to be an unquantifiable blessing to disabled workers. I am very blessed to have an accessible and navigable office. One can only imagine the strain required to work in less accessible situations. With the ability to have a physically easier day by working from home, vastly lessened are the days of being so physically exhausted by the end of the week that it’s hard to function or spending your whole weekend doing the bare minimum so that your body and mind can recover. With hybrid work, workers with disabilities can contribute even more to the workplace. They will also be able to show up more for their family and friends outside of work, with more energy to live a traditional life.
As I see more companies enforcing mandatory “back to the office” policies, I cannot help but share this story with anyone I’m connected with at those places. I urge anyone else reading this to do the same. And, if you’re at one of those companies and are reading this, I encourage you to reach out to those affected by the lessening of work from home to try to discover the lesser obvious potential problems from implementing such a policy. You can also contact me at Jake [at] JakeDenham [dot] net, and I will answer all questions.
jakedenham.net 