Productivity Through Illness

The summer flu swept through the Hanna household with full fanfare this month! You know the kind of ick I'm talking about.... you feel fine one night and wake up the next morning in a fog of congestion, and then it all rolls downhill from there. It's going on three weeks now, fighting fever and coughing fits and sneezing attacks and, I imagine, another week or two to go! Because... and here is where I get to the point of this post.... I keep working!

While some might say it's admirable to push through illness, stay productive, get things done, it's also, without at least some moderation, seriously detrimental to recovery. A cold can seem a small thing at its start but, without self-care, can spiral into weeks of congested, sleepless nights. I was a zombie for four straight days and, just when I started to feel human again, I think "Right! Let's do this!" and jump ring back into my list of to-dos. And then a day later my body says "Hey now, you listen here, you will sit still if I have to make you sit still".

​And it does. 

Don't get me wrong. Despite the brain fog, through the constant stream of tissues and cough syrup, I'm proud of what I accomplished. I didn't just complete pieces, or write blog posts, or attend an event. I tried entirely new techniques! And you know... I'm straight-up tickled by the progress I made these last two weeks when I fought for the energy to work and experiment and fail and experiment again. 

But, it was wrong. Strange to say it, I admit. But I was wrong to push myself. 

Now, I wasn't wrong to try new things. Let me be entirely clear about that. Expanding a skill set is a necessity for the creative soul. But, I was wrong to try new things at the expense of not listening to my body. 

So, if I have any advice for the creative souls out there, or the solepreneuers working towards living a successful creative life, it's this: take care of yourself. Don't just feed your creative spirit. That's important, yes, but it's not everything. What good is that spirit if the body is too weak to contain it, after all.

And if you're in the business of being creative, if you're livelihood depends on your ability to maintain a certain amount of productivity, plan ahead. Reserve work or blog posts or social media posts to share during those days when self-care is a pre-requisite for continued forward momentum and you haven't the energy or will to actively create. And then, when you've scheduled your next blog post and you've shared a piece you made four months ago, take a lay down on the couch, watch a little (or a lot of) Netflix, drink some warm tea and rest. Rest your body. Rest your mind.

Everything else can and should wait.