3 Ways to Stay Productive in your Business When You're Sick

Being sick really sucks. I know, because as I sit here writing this I'm fighting the worst cold I've had in over a decade. Stuffy nose, cough, sneezing, the whole shebang. I feel like one of those cliche cartoon characters with the bright red nose and the hot water bottle on his head. Actually, I think that guy looks better than me.

I'm double bummed because this means I couldn't record my training video this week like I wanted to. I mean, I could, but I sound like I have concrete up my nose and I figured you guys might not be able to understand me.

Since this seems to have been a particularly bad season for illnesses, I figured some of you might be under the weather too. Even if we aren't feeling much like working, there is always something we can do to continue learning and keep our momentum. So here are some ways we can stay productive that don't require a lot of effort or energy. (You can even stay in bed.)

1. Read

I know, I'm kind of rotten for putting this at the top of the list. This is probably what your mom told you to do when you stayed home sick from school. But that doesn't mean you have to do a book report on Tom Sawyer or anything.

Read in whatever medium you enjoy most and doesn't tire you out. Scroll through some blog posts. Pick up a short ebook that looks interesting (you can find the number of pages in the description). Or even go back through some training here at WA.

In order to keep your brain primed and ready to write some fresh content once you are feeling better, you need to be continually feeding it with words. And as a bonus, if reading makes you sleepy you can get some extra rest.

2. Watch or Listen to Videos

This is the true path of least resistance, and one that I have been taking advantage of the past few days. Fair warning though, watching old movies or sitcom reruns is not going to make you feel like you are making progress in your business.

To get that boost of productive energy, you'll need to be watching informative videos that are going to help you in your business. Luckily, there is a whole library of them in a link about two inches from your cursor.

It may also be helpful to take this time to look up some screencast tutorials for a program or tool that has been giving you trouble or you've wanted to learn. If you've been procrastinating on figuring out how to automate your social media messages, look up a Hootsuite walkthrough.

Or, if your brain is completely fried and you can't manage to follow along with anything visual, you can close your eyes and listen to a video play, sort of like a guided meditation. Sometimes I find that my brain will actually absorb more of what I'm hearing this way, and later on I will simply know what I have to do even if I thought I wasn't paying attention. Trippy.

3. Write Nonsense

This is a personal favorite of mine, and this post is a by-product of it.

You might be wondering why I'm suggesting you write while you're sick. "I'm not in a fit state to write anything, are you crazy?" But honestly, this might be one of the best times to try freewriting.

The logical side of your mind is weak (and most likely medicated) so your internal editor has its infernal trap shut for once. It usually causes a big problem for me. So I find that when I'm relaxed things start bubbling up to the surface. Write them down. It doesn't matter what they are.

Maybe it's some half-coherent ideas or just mindless rambling. This is actually great practice, and one of the biggest non-secrets to writing a lot. If you can get the hang of writing freely without censoring yourself at all, your word counts will skyrocket. Sort of like what is happening with this post right now.

And who knows? You might look back at it later and find some golden nugget of an idea hidden inside. Or maybe you'll just find a sketch of a unicorn. Either way, you made something today.

And that's the whole point of all of this, really. I was feeling kind of down because I hadn't been able to make the progress I wanted to. It makes me feel better to sit down and create something. I hope it can make you feel better too.

Thank you for hanging in here with me, and if this post made any sense at all, or maybe made you laugh, please let me know in the comments so I can read about it later once I'm back to normal.

Now I'm off to doodle some unicorns. Or maybe take a nap. zzzz