How to Get Work Done When You’re Not Feeling Well

I haven’t been well since December. I have good days where I almost feel like my old self. But unfortunately, I have a lot more days when I don’t have the energy to do a tenth of what I was capable of just three months ago. It’s extremely frustrating and upsetting since it’s affecting all areas of my life, including my writing.

As you may have noticed if you’ve read a few of my posts, I’m the type of person who loves making plans. I plan my years, months, and days way in advance. I’m definitely not a last minute person. But since my health took a nosedive, I’ve had to face the fact that long-term plans simply don’t work for me at the moment. 

The funny thing is that I now have all the time in the world to write. Because schools are closed due to the pandemic, I’ve been off work for a week and may not be able to go back for several more. In a way, it’s a golden opportunity. However, my body is not cooperating. It doesn’t care that I could literally write every single minute of the day. It mostly only cares about how soon it can get another nap.

This means that I’m learning to go with the flow instead of forcing things to happen. Surprisingly, I’m still managing to get work done, but not necessarily when I might have liked to or when it might have made the most sense.

Take yesterday for example. Saturdays are usually when I try to catch up and tie up loose ends. I start with admin, wrap up writing projects, and plan for the coming week. Instead, I woke up, took a shower, had breakfast then immediately went back to bed where I spent about an hour revising a story, followed by several bouts of napping, reading, and checking the news for coronavirus updates. Not exactly what you would call a productive day, but I’m happy to say that my client still got her story on time. 

And this is the significant part: I’m learning that moving forward is not about getting everything on my list done. It’s about focusing on what is truly important TODAY. And in these times of uncertainties, it may be the smartest thing to do. 

When I woke up this morning, I wasn’t as tired. As I took stock of my energy level and tried to figure out the best use of my time, the idea for this blog post popped into my mind. Since I don’t have any pressing tasks, here I am writing this post before both the idea and my energy disappear. I have a feeling it’s going to be a good day though. Who knows, I may even start a new writing project and see what happens.  

Whatever is on your to-do list for today, make sure to STAY SAFE!