Business from bed

Thank goodness for self-employment and businesses that can be run using a phone and laptop. During the times when I was dealing with the more difficult flare ups I made all sorts of adjustments to both take care of myself and get my work done. Looking back, I would have rated my body a 4 (on a scale of 1-10) and my mind a 6. I had the capacity to get on the phone with my clients (as long as it was after 9 am, thank you), but I just couldn’t expend additional energy on outreach activities that might have helped build my business. Truthfully, talking on the phone with my clients offered a reprieve. For those 45-60 minutes the act of being with another human being, with the focus on his or her life, my body seemed to disappear. But otherwise, not much fuel seemed to be available to generate thought or activity to do much else. So I didn’t.

In the middle of these times I would often giggle to myself about the books I might write; Business from Bed and Marketing from Bed often came to mind. Quite a different model for work than we normally picture, but what the heck! Here’s how it looked:

7 – 9 am – wake up slowly, gingerly, feel my body and move with caution. Head straight to the bathroom. Get back in bed, rest some more. Gradually and slowly do the things I needed to do like eat, shower and get dressed (if I could).
9 am – walk down the hall and turn on my computer. Check email, plan my day, head back to bed with paper, pen, files and phone. Rest some more and wait for the first client call.

And so on…

We really are remarkable creatures with an incredible capacity to persist and adapt. Today I spoke with a women who is the throws of the fluctuating symptoms. She, too, works from home and these past two weeks have been hard for her. I had to applaud her. Rather than pushing herself she had the good sense to just take a break, yielding to her body until she had more capacity to get back in action. She’s just about ready.

I’m grateful for the strategies I had to develop when I was ill with symptoms. Many of the practices I put into place to take care of myself are still with me today. I still wake up at about 7, and I don’t normally schedule my first calls until 10. Now I use those early hours to write my affirmations, enjoy my coffee and breakfast and spend a little time working on a project of reading, and handling my morning email. Rather than going back to bed I go find the most appealing and comfortable place in my house to start my day.

Joan