Circumstances and Priorities Change.

How we change our behavior in relation to those priorities, and how we deal with circumstances outside of our control, however, can say a lot about how closely we are working to serve our primary purpose and how we see ourselves in relation to our work. That said, having a week of being largely laid up and missing out on both tasks that I dread and those that I find creatively satisfying made me question how I used to get along when I was primarily engaged in demanding, quick-turnaround, creative work as an in-house embroidery digitizer. I remembered many days limping my way through a bout of some random illness and digitizing along as best I could to keep production running as smoothly as possible. Those structured days of deadline-chasing are what lead to the following post from that original blog for Stitches Magazine that launched my ‘second career’ as an educator.  Looking back from the position of a modern, post-pandemic restructured work world, the tips about remote work feel odd to read, but I still think these tips hold up decently well. Read below and enjoy this little ‘blast from the past’ interjected with some modern commentary, and see if your methods jive with the way I’ve long handled the odd sick day wherein I can’t just take to my bed.

–Present Erich

Buck the Sickness – Tips for Working Unwell

What do you do when you have a full workload, your head is heavy and you’re far from feeling your best? I know I’ve had to answer this question far more often than I’d like to admit. Recently, after an uncharacteristically long vacation (three entire work days!), my wife and I returned home with heads full of memories, and sadly, hands full of tissues. We were sick – and very sick at that. If you’ve ever followed any of my manifold social media streams you know that I am a busy, busy man. As you might expect, I returned to work after only a single extra day of waiting for my 102-degree fever to abate, and plowed right into a drift of paperwork and digitizing. Upon asking my industry friends what I should post (as soon as my head cleared), Jane Swanzy frankly suggested “How to stay positive and creative when you feel like crap,” echoed by Bonnie Landsberger’s “How to keep working with a fog in your head.” It struck me that this is something we’ve all had to learn to do, especially in recent economic difficulty; especially those who are entrepreneurs, work in a small business, or through their own specified skill sets have made themselves irreplaceable– we all have to learn to keep going, and sometimes we work under rather poor conditions. As someone who has survived many bouts of DWR (Digitizing while Recovering) , I’ve got some tips both to manage your workload and to keep you in a better mood that just might make your cold and flu season a little more productive, creative and positive.

1. Prepare – Get the best night’s sleep you can and get all of your necessary supplies together and ready for the day – that includes your tea (I recommend Traditional Medicinals’ Herbal Cold Care), cough drops and tissues just as much as your paperwork and samples. If you have to be in a little late or run a little slow, so be it. Just patch yourself up in the best way possible and make yourself as comfortable as you can. If you have the ability to do so, work remotely via any number of remote access tools that allow you to control your workstation if you are stuck with a single-site dongle for your software. You may find that setting up a bedside home office lets you rest and still make a dent in that workload. Whether you are at home or in the office, you will have limited energy, so make sure you won’t waste it running around. Have everything at arm’s length and you’ll cut your work in half before it even begins. As far as positivity goes, you’ll be much more able to cope with people and give good answers if everything is easily in reach, and you are physically taxed as little as possible. 

Present Erich Says: I can’t help but interject on this first tip. In a world where we are largely used to working from home and using cloud-based services, the novelty of setting up a bedside home office is largely lost. That said, taking dedicated time to prepare everything one needs to be close at hand before any creative work or decision-making must be done still rings true. Get yourself ready to grind on the mindless tasks, with all of the legwork and questions answered.

2. Prioritize – Make sure you aren’t wasting effort on things that can be rescheduled – though I am always a proponent of being responsive with customers, this is the one and only time you may have to let some things go until later. Be honest with yourself about what needs to be done, and start knocking the most critical tasks off of your list first. If you tire or find yourself too muddled to handle that critical task, look for a simpler task that is still productive but requires less mental horsepower. Tackle it and then see if you feel ready to return to the top of the list – if not, you may need to take a break. Remember to rest; if you become entirely incapacitated, nothing gets done. Push too hard and you won’t only get stressed – you may also stay sick and get grumpy – none of which is good for customers, or your bottom line.

3. Delegate – If you aren’t alone in your work, let someone help you. Even if you are one of the irreplaceable few, you can still have office-mates or employees handle things that don’t specifically require your attention, or you may have your significant other or associated friends and family help you with things unrelated to work to free you up to get business-related tasks handled. Many of us are proud or particular, but this is no time to turn down a helping hand if you have one. A lighter load or a timely assist will likely reduce your stress and render you a happier person, and that may well make the difference between productivity and pain.

4. Entertain yourself – I know, it looks like I’m telling you to goof off here, but remember that part of this post is to help keep you creative. Take breaks to look at something inspiring, and definitely to watch, read or hear something funny. Laughter is sincerely good medicine (your doctor will agree), and the name of the game here is to get your mind off of being sick and hopefully onto some great ideas for your craft. Check out embroidery, crafting and art blogs to feast your eyes, and even if you are too bogged down to spare your eyes, you can likely listen to a comedy podcast for a few laughs – that’s sure to help relax your body. A few laughs and ‘aha’ moments later, you’ll feel more energized and ready to rock on your next new project. Trust me, my headphones and I have been on a healing mission all week.

5. Know your limits – I’m terrible at this, but as I said in the introduction, I started out with an extra day off. This is something I’ve done only a very few times in my career, but the truth was, I knew my tank was empty. I had to rest and recuperate to be of any use. If it wasn’t bad enough that coming to work might have risked the rest of my compatriots’ health, I would have had little to contribute while I shivered at my desk with a high fever. There comes a time for each of us when no amount of tea or positive thinking will replace real rest.

My wife and I always joke about my desire to work when I’m sick; in fact, she gave me one of my favorite flip phrases that I use as a mantra in times of trouble: “Buck up, Sport.” Whenever I find myself, as I do today, on the tail end of a day following a sleepless night, or even if I’m just dogged by a tremendous amount of work, I always remember those magic words, and I ‘buck up’ and carry on. Have a tough customer and feel like crud? “Buck up, Sport.” Be nice and remember that it’s not their fault you feel bad. Have a hard design in front of you? “Buck up, Sport.” You’ve done it before – you can do it now. Focus, slow down and power through. Have something creative to work out? “Buck up, Sport!” Write down as many ideas, draw as many sketches or pick as many color schemes as you can and see where you are when you’ve finished your exercise. A cold doesn’t remove your creativity entirely, and you may find that the ‘altered’ you has a new perspective. Remember, you may be diminished, but you are still you– ‘buck up’ when you can, and when you can’t, rest up so you’ll be ready to do your best when you feel better.

A final note from Present Erich: Remember, folks. Work isn’t everything or the only thing we are here for. Many of us, myself included, are fulfilled by our work and find it to be not only fiscally satisfying, but purposeful. Moreover, many of us are working for ourselves or by ourselves, and thus may have to work even when the situation is less than ideal. That said, never forget that your longevity and continued presence in the world is worth more than a temporary deadline. Take care of yourselves and of each other.