A time less feisty

What to do when your body fails your ambition

Hello Feisties,

I'm refusing to believe it's an omen for 2024, but I've been sick since just before new year.

Plus, last Monday, as the cold (not Covid, thank goodness, but a timely reminder that old-fashioned colds suck too) was going into its second week, for some reason it ramped up instead of down.

I spent the whole of last week away from my desk. Just at the time of year that I'm usually most excited to be there, making new plans for my business.

Trying to take lessons where I can, I pondered how to handle this interruption. After all, the slight down side of freelance is that your income is 100 percent commission: if you're not working, you're not earning.

My usual strategy with illness is to take to my bed as soon as possible and spend as much time there as I can, figuring that shortens the cold. So the first week I made do with half days and afternoon naps. But two weeks in, the outstanding assignments began to natter.

So my next question became: what is the bare minimum that I can do to get by? Forget productivity, how about survival?

Since my most pressing assignment was a rewrite of a feature that I felt needed more meat (potential interviewees stopped returning my calls that week before Christmas - honestly, who can blame them - so it was a little light on sources). Through bleary eyes, I started reaching out again. I may not have been clear-headed enough for a revision, but even a body can ask some interview questions and if I recorded the interviews I could replay when well and have the material ready.

In the case of one of last week’s interviewees, I began with my standard apology for the hoarse state of my voice. "I almost cancelled on you," he said. "I'm feeling terrible." I returned his smile, imagining that if we were in person instead of over Zoom I might be able to smell the menthol of his cough drops as he would surely smell mine. "Let's get this done quick," I replied.

Basically, my approach to the week from hell was to cover the essentials, postpone any deep work, and bump up mindless tasks like returning emails and sending invoices. On the upside, I also detangled the mess of computer wires under my desk, set up my backup hard drive, and did my filing, all tasks that the well me pushes to the bottom of her to-do list but that the zombie me appreciated. I also took lots of breaks and again tried to insert sleep where I could. My productivity may have tanked, but these bits set me up to get back to work as soon as my brain was back in gear.

What's your strategy for dealing with illness?

Sue