Calling in sick

One of the things that I like about working as an author is that I get to be my own boss. I set my own hours, decide what and how I will work on book projects and I don’t have somebody standing behind my chair, breathing down my neck! I’m the type who works better solo, so this is a big plus. An even bigger plus is that I get to "work from home" and be there for the kids, doctor appointments, school meetings, etc., when need be. One other thing I like about being my own boss is that I can take a week off work if needed, without the risk of getting “fired” for it!

And I definitely needed a week off last week, because I was sick with a terrible virus that left me in coughing fits, ruined my voice and made it darn near impossible to concentrate because I couldn’t get as much sleep as I needed, thanks to coughing so much!

So while the kids were in school last week, I didn’t spend this free time at the computer, furiously typing away. Of course, that HAD been my plan, since this was what I THOUGHT was going to be their last full week of school. (That is not the case for the preschooler.) But because I was too sick to work, I took some major downtime and stayed in bed as often as I was able to.

That’s right, I slept. A lot. Actually, the daytime was the only time I COULD sleep. Strangely enough, the chest congestion was at it’s WORST at night, and I barely slept. Thankfully, I was not coughing so badly in the mornings and that was time I used to catch up on sleep.

And, you know what? I didn’t allow myself to feel guilty about that, either. Believe me, the guilt monster DID try to get me. But, no! I spent way too much of the school year working and writing while the kids were in school. I think I was allowed some rest this time around.

That rest REALLY helped, a lot. I was able to function for the remainder of the day thanks to that extra rest I got. It also helped me to get through this haze of being sick.

On Thursday, I saw a doctor and got a prescription. The prescription was hard to get used to at first, but it did allow me to sleep at night and that is something I am grateful for. It’s so good to be able to get a good night’s sleep again!! I highly recommend it.

I am doing much better now. Still taking the antibiotics and the side effects are not as bad anymore. I’m glad to be over all of that and I think I did the right thing in getting the sleep I needed when I had that chance.

And as to the work I have to do? I can still do it. I can get back into it and nothing has suffered from this “week off” that I took. The books do not have “looming deadlines” that is leaving me stressed out, or anything. So nothing went wrong; I can get back to work on the books just as I would have done last week.

Also, now that summer is here, I have created a new “writing schedule” for me to follow so that I can find time to work on the four books I have on my plate now, read the books I am reviewing, and STILL have time to spend with the kids. I don’t want to be a “slave to the computer” like I was once upon a time when I was working as a freelance writer, so I think this schedule will be better for all of us. The poetry submissions have been moved to the weekends, as has blogging and miscellaneous “author stuff” that need to be taken care of. There may be other changes as far as social networking is concerned. The important thing is to find balance for everything and create a system to make it a “win-win” arrangement for all of us. I have a feeling things will work out with this new schedule, and look forward to seeing just how it’ll all turn out. At least schedules are not set in stone!