5 Ways to Feel Productive and Creative When You’re Not Feeling Well
Over the past couple of weeks I was sick with a terrible cold. I don’t get sick often, but when I do, it is full blown SICK, with headaches, sniffles and fatigue. I am somewhat impatient and I don’t really enjoy taking medications and waiting around to get better.
I was not happy, especially since I had a list of tasks and art projects that I had to put on hold until I got better. I could hardly think straight, I didn’t want to tackle the work and end up with re-work later. That just didn’t make any sense.
Still, as sick as I was, my soul was craving productivity and creation. So, I decided that I needed some sort of busy work that supported my work on hold, and nourished my soul throughout my recovery period.
Here are five productive and creative practices that I used to lift my spirits throughout my recovery.
Focused My Mind.
Once I accepted that my energy was going to be limited, and I could not work at my regular pace, or at all, on some days, I had to focus on using my time wisely. I spent some time being grateful and reflecting on my achievements.
This helped me identify the smaller tasks I could manage and make some adjustments to my goals. I realigned with my purpose and to what drives me to keep going even during unplanned downtime, which is creating positive art and sharing it with the world.
Planned and Replanned.
When I felt well enough, I started doing a bit more planning, learning and brainstorming. I worked through the smaller sub-list of tasks that I created and documented all the thoughts on my iPad. My brain was foggy so this helped a lot.
There were a few courses on my original list and I used this opportunity to complete them. It took a little longer to complete them because I took naps as needed. The naps actually helped keep me refreshed and focused. When I got back to the course, I was retaining information better. Ultimately I was able to complete most of my courses, and made me feel so productive.
Enjoyed Activities.
I shook off the sleepy feeling with activities that helped boost my creativity. I read good books, listened to inspirational music and watched feel good movies and shows. These activities helped get my creative side working again and inspired me. My iPad was always handy to jot down any ideas that came to me, and there were quite a few.
Experimented.
When I started to have even more energy I began using my iPad more to do some doodling, coloring and other simple and fun digital work to generate future ideas. I started to look through my digital projects and do some experimenting to help spark my creativity. A simple and effective way to boost energy is to work with color. It was so invigorating to bring these projects back to life with a few tweaks to the coloring. I am very excited to see what the final collection will look like based on this rework.
Exercised.
As I started to feel much better, I started to do some low impact exercise. I started indoors, with some cleaning, organizing and playing soccer with my husband and pup. When the weather was nice and sunny, I would take walks around our neighborhood. The fresh air and sunlight really boosted my mood and energy levels.
Today, I am feeling 100% better. Thank you God!
Overall, I don’t feel like my downtime halted my productivity or my creativity. I was able to pass the time more effectively with these five practices. It felt more like a reset and course correct, than a pause because I was able I clear off tasks, experiment with new art techniques and create a list of ideas for the future. I am quite happy with what I was able to accomplish with this reset.
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