Nova Daily - 5 March 2025
Hi!
Yesterday's bad day had a dose of foreboding for today. I woke up with an awful headache and had to call in sick. As the day progressed, the headache gradually became less severe; still bad enough to keep me home, but not so bad that I couldn't do anything anymore.
Burn-out
A couple of years ago I listened to an interview about burn-out. The interviewee talked about how his body had been giving him signals for a long time. It started with accumulated frustration over people around him not doing their work properly and him having to do all the hard work. He did much more than he should have. He ignored all the signs of exhaustion, thinking that it was just part of how things are. He wanted to succeed, and he thought that high investments should yield high rewards. If his health would be taking a hit, that'd be worth it in the end.
So, he worked through the migraines, through the frustrations, through the fatigue of not getting enough sleep. The people around him saw him get paler and more agitated by the day. He dismissed their concerns. The doctor advised him to radically cut down on his working hours. He ignored it. He never listened, even though reality was staring him in the face. He kept going, pushing himself further and further...
...and then the lights went out.
"So, here we are," said the dreaded voice of his doctor. "Do you get the message?"
He realised at long last that he couldn't keep up this ridiculous pace of overworking himself any longer. His collapse felt like the final warning before he would work himself to his grave. He had no choice. He had to give in and accept the reality that he must stop this madness.
He put all his endeavours on hold and spent a year resting. "A complete recovery from this is impossible," he said in the interview. "I have physically come round, but I had to rethink and readjust the way I structure and live my life. I can't continue this pace, because the body simply can't cope. I can still be busy, and in fact I am, but if after this interview I don't take a few moments of conscious rest, I can feel the migraines coming back."
Two things resonate with me clearest in this story, and they sum up my day pretty well.
- Always listen to your body.
Your body is the vessel that gets you through your life. Don't neglect it. - Take conscious rests if you need to.
When you feel overwhelmed, take a step back.
I was involuntarily reminded of the above anecdote today. Such stories are far from unique. Workaholics exist in every field. But it's always important to listen to your own body and take a step back when needed.
I interpreted this morning's headache as a sign that I need to take my physical and mental well-being seriously. There is a lot that I can give up in my pursuit of mastery, but there's one thing that I can't afford to sacrifice. My health.
The game
When the morning's headache had diminished to a bearable degree, I decided to do my daily set of puzzles. Quite plainly it's not been a success. I did win my Puzzle Battle, but I messed up my puzzle rating to the lowest it's been in a long time, and I failed my Rush as well.
The game didn't exactly go my way either. I was very much on the ropes from the start by misplaying an Accelerated Panov with black. I sacrificed an Exchange for unsound compensation, and I had to witness the exchange of piece after piece. I was almost ready to throw in the towel when I decided to set one more devious trap. It's an easy trick to miss, and although I didn't expect my opponent to fall for it, he did. An extremely ugly swindle that I'm sure Smerdon and Lakdawala would approve of.
My thoughts:
I'll have a look at this tomorrow.
I probably won't play a rapid game tomorrow. I'll use that time to rest up, play some blitz games and catch up with this week's analyses that I've yet to do.
