Released On 10 August 2026
Sheila's blog: Rest, Restore, Refresh
When "pushing through" can be counterproductive.
Having a chronic illness means that the medication I take leaves me immunocompromised. I still go into the office three or four days a week and take sensible precautions, but I don't wrap myself in cotton wool — we all remember COVID — or hide from the world. What it does mean is that I have to listen to my body in a way I never used to. When I feel even a little off, the kindest and most productive thing I can do is rest, restore and refresh before trying to work.
That pattern played out last week. I started feeling ill, and my first instinct — as it always is — was to push through. There's a voice that kicks in immediately: don't be dramatic, you're fine, just get on with it. If I'm honest, there's real guilt there. Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis — SPMS — can feel like a ready-made excuse, and the last thing I want is for my illness to become a reason, real or perceived, for poor attendance or underperformance. In the City, where presence and output are visible currencies, that fear isn't abstract. So I push. And then I push some more. And then I make myself worse.
Last week, I finally gave myself a real talking to. I stopped. I rested a full day. And I was back at work properly the next morning — not half-working, half-suffering, grinding through four days of diminished output to recover from something I could have addressed in one.
It's a simple equation when I write it down. It's considerably harder to live in real time.
We're now in August, when much of Europe steps back — properly back — to rest and reconnect with family and friends. I used to see this as a cultural quirk. I now understand it as structural wisdom. The rhythm of the year needs a slow movement. Even the best performers in the City know that sustained output requires recovery built in, not bolted on as an afterthought. Professional athletes do this deliberately — rest isn't a gap in their performance plan, it's part of it.
You don't need a chronic illness to take this seriously. You just need to be honest about what you're actually doing when you "push through." Sometimes it's grit. Sometimes it's just inefficiency wearing the costume of commitment.
So this August, I'm reminding myself — and perhaps you too — that an occasional day in bed isn't a failure of work ethic. It's not a concession; it’s a wise strategy.
Sheila has worked in the asset management industry for over 15 years. She is married to a wonderful husband, is mother to two amazing children, has Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis and lives in London. Sheila goes to the MS Therapy Centre in Harrow for physio and hyperbaric oxygen therapy once a week. Donations to support this wonderful organisation are very welcome. Sheila can be found on Instagram @MS_in_the_City. https://www.harrowmscentre.co.uk/donate
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