It started as a pain in my left shoulder blade. In the next few hours, my hands began to ache.
Finally, a full-blown headache let me know I wouldn’t be upright much longer.
We marketers cannot afford to get sick. If you’re not at a desk or wherever business is done, the enterprise grinds to a halt. What do you do when that happens?
Here’s what I accomplished yesterday before the flu sidelined me at 6:00 pm, the time I usually get a second wind and return to the computer after dinner.
Perhaps these five easy tasks are perfect for a day when you’re under the weather.
1. Listen to a marketing CD. You see an offer for a free instructional CD and send for it but don’t make time to hear it. Put it in your computer, have pen and paper handy, and take quick notes of the highlights. When you’re feeling better, take action on the high points.
The CDs I heard were the “Think to Grow Rich” series from Dan Kennedy and Bill Glazer.
2. Organize Something. I have a pile of receipts that needs separation into credit card order. In other words, if I place each receipt in a file according to the credit card used for purchase, I can easily match the charge when each bill arrives. My folders were waiting for a perfect time to put this together, and now it’s done.
I use a binder stationed within a credenza for this organization. Each folder in the binder is labeled with credit card’s name and last four numbers. No more extensive searching for receipts when the bill arrives. Match, staple, pay, done.
3. Reduce Your Intensity. You maintain a laser-like focus on everything because you work alone. In fact, intense is a mild word for your demeanor. Marketers are fanatics about business, so when you’re sick, the intensity becomes a drain.
Find the point where you can accomplish goals in a more-relaxed state. This is a difficult process, as full power is your normal speed. However, a slower gear is necessary if you want to get healthy.
I’m an author with a February 28th deadline that’s fast approaching. I’m reading, editing, and reviewing images, but not at the same speed as when I’m at my best.
4. Evaluate a Program. Similar to No. 1, you find software and other programs on the Web to download free of charge. That program often sits in the computer until you make time to review it. This is the time. Then you can decide how to put it to use or delete it.
I printed a resource report that I’ve had since last year. It included links for many services that streamline business projects. I bookmarked the services that will work for me and deleted the report.
5. File or Delete Emails. This is the perfect time to delete Emails you no longer need. You’ve been waiting for time to do this. It’s now.
My Email account now contains 15 entries, a low that I plan to bring down to zero by week’s end. You may not be able to dump as much as me, but just 10 deletions is an achievement.
If you have the strength to sit in front of the computer, these five options are open and available so that some type of action is completed.
What tasks, marketing or otherwise, do you remember completing the last time you worked while sick?
