Last week, I was a victim. The victim of an inflamed trachea. And yes, it is as delightful as it sounds.
Besides talking like Joan Rivers for a week, I had a fever, pounding headache, and an exhaustion that meant I was sleeping about 15 hours a day. I missed a multitude of events I was looking forward to, including a Zumbathon for breast cancer awareness month and I’ve never been so glad to have queue of posts. It was a waste of week, which pisses me off.
With so many projects I want to start, work on, and/or finish, having a week where I do almost nothing makes me anxious. That feeling of slipping even farther behind is uncomfortable and I’m not good when I’m idle. I can’t even watch TV without doing something else (well, most TV. There are about 3 shows that get my undivided attention). In case I’m being vague, I cannot stand feeling unproductive. I like knowing that at the end of the day, I’ve accomplished all that was possible that day.
So when I’m sick and unable to do anything but sleep, I can’t really get much done. Or can’t I? Why did I allow myself to think that being sick is an excuse to do nothing but lay like a lump on my couch or bed? I mean, it’s not like I had some horrible illness like mono or pneumonia. I had a broken voice and a fever (in my defense, a fever renders me pretty motionless. I cannot handle a fever). This should not have rendered me completely helpless. For instance, during my waking hours, I could have:
- Worked on my freelancing career. I have a ridiculous stack of books on my nightstand and on my Kindle app waiting to be read. I’m slowly working my way through them (I did just finish R.A. Dickey’s memoir and I’m currently reading Tony Danza’s book, I’d Like To Apologize to Every Teacher I’ve Ever Had. Don’t laugh at me. It’s actually quite good). But I could have read more, particularly some of the career and freelancing books I have waiting. Even though I wasn’t writing or networking, I could have been working on my career.
- Organized my recipe binder. For Christmas, my well meaning mother-in-law bought me a subscription to Southern Living. While I don’t exactly fit the description of a southern anything, the recipes in the magazine are pretty good. So each month, I rip out the ones I want to try and throw them in my recipe binder. After two years of this, my binder is a disorganized mess. Being stuck on the couch was the perfect time to organize and sort the recipes, in addition to creating some menu plans that incorporate the recipes.
- Caught up on blogs. I am desperately behind on my blog reading. The harder I try to get caught up, the worse it gets. Instead of doing nothing, I could have very easily brought my laptop into my bed and spent some time reading, commenting, tweeting and sharing on Facebook. I know I would have been entertained and I wouldn’t have felt so disconnected from my blogging peers and friends.
- Uploaded music. I have a bunch of CDs that I need to upload into my iTunes. I’m particularly lazy and good at avoiding this project, mainly because it’s time consuming and annoying. But it needs to get done. I probably could have mustered the energy to collect what CDs I could find and sit on my couch and upload them. I could have done this while rewatching the entire series of Prison Break or one of the new to me series I’m dying to watch on Netflix.
Looking back on it, I am upset that I wasted so much time doing…well, nothing. I played PopWords, read Cracked for hours and stared blankly at whatever crap is on daytime TV. I know that it’s okay to give myself a break when I’m sick. But with time as a finite resource, I can’t stand the feeling that I’ve wasted some of it.
What do you do when you’re sick? Do you try to be productive or do you just wallow in it? Join the discussion on Facebook or comment below.
A couple of weeks ago I got hit with a bug that gave me a pretty good fever for 24 hours. As much as I wanted to get stuff done, I knew it was best if I rested, so I slept an extra couple hours that night and took two naps the next day, and pretty much just watched movies the rest of the time. As much as you hate being non-productive, I think if you push it you could just end up making your body stay sick longer.
Almost laughed out loud at the Joan Rivers comment.
Money Beagle recently posted…Oops! I’ve Been Overestimating Our Net Worth
I think personally i do a little of both. It depends on the type of sickness. Usually I just lay in bed and sleep or play video games. I think the fact that now I can work anywhere with a computer and internet i’d still get some stuff done.
Comment on a few posts, tweet some stuff and do some reading but I think I’d mostly focus on myself and getting better.
I mean if you are ‘working’ then you aren’t really resting are you?
Ryan @ Planwise recently posted…Kira does a guest post on This Is Common Cents Blog
I hope you are better now Jana! Don’t beat yourself up about the lost productivity, like Ryan says, it is about getting some rest, even though the reading doesn’t take much energy, it takes some. When I am sick I don’t try anything that I don’t feel up to, for fear that it will only prolong the illness. I like cleaning though, and putting on some fresh bed sheets, I feel like I am chasing the sickness away.
Pauline recently posted…Friday recap, a blogoversary and a sold flat!!
I try to be productive. Whenever I am sick, I usually feel EXTREMELY guilty. I hate that.
Michelle recently posted…Spending, Life, Income and Food Updates…
Depending on how sick I am I usually end up on the couch or remain in bed. As long as my laptop is nearby I am good. I try to be productive if I can walk around which usually means cleaning up the apt, but if I am really sick and don’t want to move around much- it’s Golden Girls marathon and a bowl of never ending snacks and a glass of Ginger Ale.
Whether I am sick or not, I can never seem to get caught up on my blog reader.