Getting back into gear after illness

In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been away for the site for almost two weeks now. No, I’m not canned, David is still suffering from the mental blackout that lets me wield my wordy sword here, and as long as he does I will.

I’ve been sick. Not as in lethal sickness or anything, just really sick and incapacitated of doing, well, anything at all. That includes work, which sucks of course.

Now, as if being ill isn’t enough, when you’re a blogger, web worker, designer or whatever you need to get back in gear when you feel well again. Working for yourself, as a blogger for instance, usually mean that everything is up to you. So most likely your blogs have been standing still – not all have editorial backup such as myself here at 901am, other blogs are not so lucky.

These are things I force myself to think on when getting back from illness.

Get well first, then start working. You really should get well before you go back to work. Putting yourself under pressure when you’re still ill just prolongs the healing and that’s never a good thing. Now, we’re talking real illness here, not a sniveling little cold, but still. Make sure you’re up to it health wise, don’t force yourself back to work.

Take it slow. Most likely you’re getting back to work too early so there is no point in rushing out posts (or whatever you do) in a stressed manner. This will just make you tired and perhaps even burn you out a bit. Ease into it.

Tell people why you’ve been away. If you have deviated from your regular updating schedule, which you most likely have if you’re a blogger, then tell people why. Most likely you told them when you got sick, so then just tell them you’re back and are hoping to be going 100% as usual “in the next couple of days”. That’s right, give yourself some time.

One thing at a time. If you’re running multiple projects, do kick them back into action one at a time. Accepting that you can’t do everything at once is the first thing you need to do to reduce the stress, and that’s crucial.

Now as you all know being ill sucks and since most web workers are Workaholics Deluxe(TM) it is sometimes hard not to work. Get over it. You don’t do your best stuff when you’re ill, and you won’t get any better anytime soon unless you relieve yourself of some stress. While one might argue that not working might be stressful, that’s just bullshit and only proves that you have an unhealthy view from the first place. And yes, that’s from the guy with these working hours.

Take care. Literally.

Originally posted on March 8, 2007 @ 1:41 am