3 ways to cope whilst under the weather when you’re self-employed
As a self-employed person, there is definitely never a good time to be feeling under the weather. In fact, I find it very difficult to make time to go away on holidays that last longer than a few days at a time. Just stopping and doing no work isn’t really my way. But when I become a bit ill perhaps with a cold or the likes then it important to take action and not just struggle through, as that is when I find things either go on for longer than they need to or develop into worse things which could knock me completely out action for a longer period of time.
Here are my top 3 tips on trying to keep work going to a degree whilst taking care of myself at the same time.
1 Rest & Recharge
Sleep is one of the biggest gifts you can give to yourself. The power of a good night’s sleep or an afternoon nap is immense and should never be under-estimated. Imagine yourself like your mobile phone, when it’s battery drains you plug it in and recharge it, your body is no different and sleep is the charger. We take holidays to rest and recharge ourselves throughout the course of the year and we need to do the same from time to time when we aren’t feeling well.
It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do any work though, the world doesn’t stop turning whilst it waits for us to recharge or feel better. When I feel under the weather I like to do any work I have to still get done whilst tucked up under my duvet either in a comfy chair or in bed. This way I still have the benefit of resting whilst getting a little bit of work done. And I make sure to listen to my body and when feeling sleepy I will take a nap.
2 Prioritize
Prioritizing is a key element to being able to keep earning your much need money whilst being able to take some time to rest and recharge. Not everything on your worksheet needs doing right that minute, sift through and prioritize which tasks are essential, the ones that require less effort and ones that might bring you some peace at heart.
3 Write it down
Don’t rest in bed and let all the things you’re not doing run around in your head. This will just lead to feeling anxious and resentful about letting yourself get charged back up to 100%.
Instead, write it down. Make lists of the things you are saving for when you feel better and make room for notes on each area of work so that that bright idea you’ve had for a piece of work doesn’t get forgotten by the time you are able to get to it.
Once I follow these rules and start to get back to working normally, I then need to factor in catching up on the work I’ve set aside. This is usually means using some of the time in the week that I set aside tfor me time. By working for half a day on a Sunday and adding an extra hour onto my working days or cutting short some lunch breaks it means I can usually catch up quite easily on that list of tasks I’ve been keeping a note on whilst resting up.
