Sometimes, it is not the physical demands of the work that you do that can leave you feeling completely drained but the emotional component of the work. Some jobs cause very little emotional fatigue but can be physically draining in one or more ways. Still other jobs offer little to no fatigue of any sort. Over the past few days, I have experienced all three situations.
The most emotionally demanding work that I do is a part of my law practice. Some of the things that I do are transactional in nature and do not involve a lot of emotion, but two of the things that I do are some of the most emotionally involved areas of law practice – divorce and juvenile law. On some days, even a phone call or an email or two is enough to leave me feeling exhausted, and on days when I go to court I am often quite worn out afterwards.
One of my freelance writing jobs involves data editing. It is not difficult work, yet I have found that if I try to sit and do it for more than an hour or two at a time, I get rather numb from sitting in front of the computer. Any energy that I had before sitting down to work just seems to disappear.
For some reason, blogging does not seem to wear me out. Like any writer, there are times when writer’s block sets in and it takes me a while to think of exactly what I am going to write about. Fortunately this does not happen very often, and when it does as soon as I get some hint of a topic I am off and typing again.
The demands on my physical and emotional energy from the various types of work that I do are very different. I enjoy each type of work and feel that overall, having a variety of work keeps me from experiencing another type of fatigue – boredom. It is always interesting to think about work and how it affects my mind and body in different ways. What kinds of work tire you out? Does your work make you feel invigorated?
Photo by taliesin on morguefile.com.