Planning During Recovery

I didn't realize how fucked my brain was until I really needed to use it.  My first test?  When my attorney told me to get a journal and write down what I remembered from the wreck, and to journal daily.   Easy, right?  I couldn't remember an entire day after my wreck.  Saturday was gone.  NO clue how that day was spent.  Just so you know, my family filled in the blanks...I bought an oven.  I went to a store, picked an oven, bought it.  Didn't remember it at all.  I knew at that point, something was very, very wrong. 

My accident happened at the end of August, about 30 days away from a major conference I was running.  PANICKED.   Simple tasks took more effort.  As a long time mult-tasker, ready to change gears in a heartbeat, suddenly I couldn't handle walking and talking at the same time.  I was tired all the time, and for someone who typically doesn't nap, this was way out of character. 

Was I prepared to manage an event with my "broken brain"?  I didn't have a choice, ready or not, it needed to happen.  My life, my lifestyle, my way of supporting my family, my joy, my passion - all wrapped up into this career path.  If this event went horribly bad, I could lose it all.  PANICKED. 

I had to delegate areas of my job to people who have never had that responsibility before with me, but that took really thinking through every single minuscule moment of event planning to figure out what I could handle, and what I couldn't handle.   So, how did I do that?  My way is one way, but not the only way.  This is how I worked with my limited executive function:

1.) Made a list of everything that needed to be done before the event
2.) Swallowed pride and realized that I couldn't do it, and further segmented the list into specific areas.
3.) Held a meeting with the team, further swallowing what pride I had left and asked for help. 
4.) TRUSTED that the task will be done by them, even if not done my way. 

Simply put -
Use lists daily.  Refer to lists regularly.  Recap your day, and pre-plan the next day.
Accept that you're injured - don't be a hero.  It's worse on the project later on to lead from a place of pain and isolation.
Ask for help.  Ask several times. 
Trust your team to support you.  Hopefully you're a leader who is respected, kind and supportive of her/his team, so this shouldn't be hard for them.
Constant communication.
And, build in the rest breaks. 

The rest breaks are my biggest tool to suggest.  Build it into your day. 

As you go back to work after a head injury, as much as you can, ease back in and respect the fatigue.  Don't ignore the symptoms.  My OT suggested a 5 minute, head down on the desk break every 30 minutes.  That was hard, and i'll be honest, couldn't do it often with the job.  Then, we moved to 5 minutes every hour.  Also tough when you have a 1.5 hour meeting.   I had to remind people to avoid scheduling me in back to back meetings, so I had a chance to decompress and reset for the next thing.   Even after 6 months, I still need the decompress and reset moments - both at home and at work. 

Recovering from a head injury requires patience and planning.  If you try to rush it, you're not set up for success.  If you try to wing it, you never let your brain get rewired.  Brains need habit.  Brains need reinforcement to make consistent connections.