Ever since the poet went back to work on 1 July, we’ve both had cold upon cold upon cold. And yesterday, I was finally flattened. Unusually, it seems that the poet is a couple of days behind me this time.
Also unusually, it seems, if I wake up and I’m not very well, I generally take a sick day. I’ve always done this, even when I “worked for a living” (aka “had a proper job”, aka “had a day job” – although this is my day job now and has been for a long time). I’ve never really had qualms about calling in sick. When I worked with people I figured they didn’t want my germs anyway.
I also know that if I’m under the weather, I don’t do my best work anyway. I take longer about it and it needs revisiting when I’m back to normal health. If I take the time off to heal and recover, then I get back to full output sooner. To me, it’s a no-brainer.
Yesterday, I didn’t even wake up until 10am and I already knew I’d be a waste of space for the rest of the day. And so I pulled a sickie. Fortunately, I was up to date with all of my work, but had I not been I would have just dropped the client(s) an email.
But the day wasn’t totally wasted. Instead, I had time to do some “reading”. If it’s work-related or learning new skills, I call it “study” or “personal development”. If it’s reading a book for a review, then it’s still “work”. And if I’m just reading for pleasure, I call it “reading for pleasure”. Yesterday, it was “personal development” reading.
Today, I’m still not right, so I’ve moved all of the work I would have done this week to next week, and I’ve extended one of my own personal deadlines by a week too.
It means I only have 15 days in which to complete Catch the Rainbow, at 2,459 words per day. But I still have 10 days in which to complete the proofreading for The Life of Richard Cadbury. I still have 5 days in which to complete publication of Twee Tales Too. And I still have to the end of the month to finish reading and reviewing all of the books for 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Yes, I did some faffing earlier this week, but it’s not wasted faffing. I now have 3 short stories (or flash stories) that are earning their keep instead of languishing on a virtual bookshelf for eternity. I now have a nice logo or 4. And I still have the August plan.
This morning has been spent doing more planning, i.e. next week’s diary and moving stuff along on my planners. I checked the job board, as I haven’t looked since Wednesday.
I also had a listen to this week’s podcast from the Merry Writer: How Do You Manage Your Time As A Full-Time Writer? Their guest this week was my friend Devon Ellington, with whom I’ve been blog-buddies for a Very Long Time. Please have a listen if you get the chance. It’s just under 47 minutes long, but there’s a LOT of useful stuff in there.
This afternoon I may go back to reading. (That’s “reading” the activity, not “Reading” the place.) Or I may have a bit of a clatter for Catch the Rainbow. Or I may make some notes for another story I’m working on. I’ll see what I feel like doing.
Have a wonderful weekend!
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