The PD Employee: Maintaining Productivity While Managing Symptoms

When you have young onset PD, a question that you are often asked is, "When do you think that you will have to stop working?"  I am of the opinion that for many (or even most) jobs in the US, having PD is no longer something that can derail a career.  With that said, as the disease progresses you will have to modify how you accomplish tasks but that is still a very different animal than hanging up your spikes for good.

Now you should know something---I work a lot.  I work 60 hours a week minimum.  Why do I work so hard?  Beyond the usual answers of money, stability, self worth, etc., one of the real motivating factors is to keep my mind active.  I have zero data to support this hypothesis but I believe that as long as I keep my brain reasonably busy, I can delay any mental atrophy that may occur.

What I have had to do is modify the way that I approach/complete assignments depending on how symptomatic I am feeling on a given day. Below are some of the things that I have found to make my work life more efficient while managing Parkinson's.  Please recognize that I am not a "pitchman" for these companies, this is just what has worked for me to manage my symptoms without decreasing my productivity.

• Dragon Naturally Speaking speech recognition software.  On any given day, I can receive between 300 --- 500 emails.  I never want to be called an "email non-responder" so I spend time replying  to each note.  The challenge is at night my hand becomes stiff as the tremors increase and that is when I turn to Dragon.  This voice-to-text software has been a game changer for me and I would recommend trying it out if your deal with arm-based rigidity or tremor.  Ask your neurologist about it---there is a good chance that he or she uses the medical version.

• For those of you who find your stiffness is much worse after sitting at a desk for eight hours, you may want to try a standing desk.  It takes a little time to get used to but I find it is a nice alternative to sitting constantly.  Also, my standing desk can go up and down giving me an extra table top which is an added benefit.  The first photo below is of my standing desk followed by my traditional desktop.

• For those individuals who have to give a lot of public lectures or presentations, I have found Keynote and Keynote Remote to be fantastic.  Keynote is similar to PowerPoint but I am partial to the minimalist styles and intuitive design.  What I love is the ability to stream Keynote off my iPad while controlling the slides using Keynote Remote on my iPhone.  I tend to have right arm tremor when I am nervous and having the ability to control the presentation using only a lightweight iPhone is a great improvement.  Students are always amazed that I am teaching from my iPad and controlling it with my iPhone----then I actually start my lecture and they go right to sleep.

• Google Glass: This technology has the potential to be really important to the Parkinson's community.  I've been an "Explorer" for three weeks and I am so impressed that we're going to give Google Glass an entire column.  Here is writer Gary Shteyngart discussing the experience in his usual fashion in The New Yorker.