Toby’s recovery from COVID burnout
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Toby was not at all satisfied with the work he has done today. He had finished most of what was on the list but that's not good enough for him. It’s just another day to put a little extra hour in to get more done, and tomorrow will be better, he thinks to himself as he finishes his third cup of coffee. One might say Toby is an overachiever, but the pressure as of late since the outbreak of Covid had kept piling up; cost-cutting, furloughs, and layoffs are surrounding the workforce and he feels like he’s hanging on by a thread.
He cut back on his lunchtime, he now works from home and only needs to heat up his leftover from last night; he skips his morning routine because he has made his bed his working “desk”; goals are ever more ambitious and meetings are now back to back as the business doesn’t stop growing because of a flu.
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One day, Toby phoned me, at 2 am.
“I’m a total failure and have lost sense of motivation.”
“Skip work, come and grab a coffee with me tomorrow morning at the Cafe on Melrose.” I said.
The next day at the cafe, Toby was in terrible shape. He was overweight, always twisting his neck in a weird angle because he’s had spasms the last 2 weeks, couldn’t remember what he had for dinner, and was 30 mins late to our coffee date because he was suffering from serious insomnia. I was practically staring at myself from 2 years ago as I said to him.
“Come ski with me and the gang this weekend. I’ll introduce you to Alice, Bob, and Charles. No work, no laptop. Just good food, great wine, and the best company. No work.”
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It was a blast. It was a while since Toby has been on a slope with us. But carving on freshly groomers, ripping through tree runs, and seeing the Tahoe lake in a distance just helped Toby get in the Zone lightning fast. We exchanged ideas on how each of us would save the world economy at dinner, then played monopoly to prove we are all utterly bad at it.
Not once did anyone mention work. Neither did Toby. That’s the rule. For the first time in a very long time, Toby fell asleep before midnight and slept like a baby until the second morning.
Since then, Toby visits his nearest mountain every weekend. We pick a new mountain to ski every month and meet new people. He lost 20 pounds, has green smoothies for breakfast, and is working on backflipping on his skis. Although work is still demanding per usual, he is back to his old self, a start on his team, but with a fresh new relationship with work. A healthy one with a great support system that regularly lifts and cheers him up.
About this story
The characters and events depicted in this story - even those based on real people - are entirely fictional. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. But if you do share similarities to Toby, or are interested in the ski crew, please email me, vigorously.