More Productive Sick Days

Sick days are for the birds, but you can tackle your to-do even when you don’t feel like it.

This week I have been sick y’all. Not like “a few sniffles” sick but more like “I’ve been hit by a train” sick. It’s been such a long time since I had to deal with all of these horrible feelings and the first since I became an entrepreneur. During this week, I’ve learned a major lesson that I never had thought of before… my business doesn’t take sick days.

When I first jumped into the business world sick days were pretty simple. I’d wake up feeling puny, make a call into my boss with my symptoms and ask for a day off. The boss would give the ok (or I’d leave a message) and I’d spend the day lounging on the couch or in the bed, watching the latest and greatest of daytime television. Pretty simple right? I had time to rest and recuperate from whatever ailed me.

Fast forward to this week, when my son’s bug decided to hang around long enough for me to pick it up. Sunday afternoon it hit and I ended up on the couch with chills, fever and aches. Yuck. I didn’t think about my business, I thought about how to keep my fever down… at least until Monday morning. The wake up call of a “no sick day” business quickly hit as emails and calls poured in. Instead of shutting everything down OR pushing through and working a full day, I put a few things into practice to help me have great customer service, get projects off on time and give myself time to rest.

Manage your to-do list.

Everything doesn’t HAVE to get done in one day. Check the list of items you have on your to-do list and move your timeline around on projects in order to allow extra time. The items that must be finished, bump them to the front of the list and give them attention. Items that are not due can be pushed back a day or two in order to allow you extra time to rest and get back to your old, healthy self.

Brainstorm.

Although your body may not feel like being up and about or even sitting at your desk, you can lounge and think. Now is the perfect time to brainstorm out new ideas and processes to help you and your clients. During my sick time this week, I had the best opportunity to think through a new logo concept and postcard templates for new clients. Nothing else interrupted because I  was on the couch, away from my computer. I was able to sketch down my ideas and will get them into the computer when I’m back in action.

Rest and read (and eat your soup).

If you’re sick, rest. (It’s the mom in me y’all.) If you set aside time to give your body the opportunity to recover, you’ll cut down on the length of time  you’re out of commission. Nap when you need to nap, eat your chicken and rice soup and read. Pick up that business book you’ve been dying to read and start reading. Don’t get lost in the brain-draining line up of daytime television (seriously, I can’t watch another episode of Chopped). Use this time to learn.

Honestly, I hope you never have a sick day. I pray for your health, because this latest bug was something fierce. However, sick days are just a part of life and we have to be ready for them. What are your favorite and productive ways to pass the time on sick days?

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