I’m sick.
I called out of work today because my body has decided to act up. I sent the “I’m sick” text to my team and my boss, and buried myself further under my comforter and heated blanket.
As thankful as I am that my sickness is pretty mild and is really just a mere inconvenience to me, sick days in the middle of my work week frustrate me. I’ll have so much make up to do tomorrow to ensure a successful weekend and….okay. Nope. Done stressing out.
Now. If you’re anything like me, an entire day spent laying around in bed is actually not enjoyable to you….I actually hate that. So, when you’re limited by your energy level, and you desperately need to rest your body how does one remain relatively productive?
Here are some of my sick day productivity tips:
- Take a shower – as much as you may not want to, taking a shower is a good way to boost the way you feel a little bit. Being clean always helps me feel better because I’m a) accomplishing something and b) I feel like I’m washing away all those sick germs.
- Eat something light and healthy – you need to fuel yourself. Have something nutritious, but not too heavy that it will slow your body down more than it has already. Today my nourishment of choice is oatmeal and later on I’ll have some eggs.
- Stimulate your brain – Read an article. Watch a YouTube video on something you’re interested in. Read part of a book. Don’t spend the whole day on social media or watching tv.
- Stay Hydrated – the hardest thing for me to do when I’m sick is stay hydrated. I don’t know why but it’s never very high on my list. Hydrating keeps your brain awake and just overall makes you feel better. Do it.
- Rest – Now I know I just whined about how much I hate staying in bed all day when I’m sick, but resting is the best way to ensure a speedy recovery. This doesn’t mean you have to sleep all day, but you should relax your body and allow yourself time to recover. I won’t do that all in bed, I may move to my couch or even my basement for a change of scenery but I will make sure to give my body the rest it needs.
How you handle sick days completely depends on how sick you are. Last year when I had the stomach flu I did none of these things besides take a shower because I felt disgusting after a while. For mildly inconvenient sick days, like for me today, these tips could be helpful.
Alrighty friends, that’s all I’ve got for you today. It’s time for me to go back into semi hibernation mode. Talk soon!
Nicole Eva
Nicole Eva 
Good tips you shared! It’s so hard to muster the strength to be productive while you’re sick When I was in school, I tried to stay as productive as I could (depending on what I was sick with). There were times I was too sick to do anything and all I could do was lay in my bed and do nothing!
When I read “I’ll have so much make up to do tomorrow to ensure a successful weekend,” in your post, I instantly thought to myself “Huh. I can definitely relate to that.” When I was in school, I hated to get sick because that meant that I would have to play catch up with my schoolwork. That was never a good feeling for me. While some children enjoyed being home sick, I was one of those people that hated it because (a) you don’t feel like doing anything and (b) there’s more work waiting for you. I’m still like that today.
And I feel you about staying hydrated. I had a bad habit of doing that myself. But in recent years, I forced myself to start drinking more liquids (especially if I had nasal congestion). When I had a cold, I had a hard time breathing when I tried to sleep at night and ended up sitting up all night long just so I could breathe. When I drank tons and tons and tons of liquids, I was able to sleep better. I mean sure….I had to make more trips to the bathroom than I would’ve liked. But I had to choose which was worst: getting out of bed more or struggling to breath out of my nose more.
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So glad you enjoyed this post ☺️
I still hate sick days. They still make me anxious and I still hate laying in bed all day, BUT I’ve realized that sometimes your body just forces you to stop and take care of yourself.
And yes the hydration is KEY. I hate running to the bathroom every 5 seconds but I hate not breathing more 😂
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