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In the early weeks of the New Year, I was struck down with a dreadful affliction: a cold.

I did not have a fever, did not require a trip to the doctor’s office or hospital, but yet I was not well enough to go to work or to function in normal society. What did I have left?

Writing! I could write in the privacy of my home, where no one would know that my couch was covered in tissues and my bed stand in cough drops. But alas… It is hard to write when you’re sick! But I did discover three tips that I’ll share with you now.

#1 Keep your writing sessions SHORT.

Don’t force your tired and weary body to write longer than 20 minutes at a time without ample breaks. All of your body’s energy is going into fighting off a virus, a most determined and brilliant foe, so your brain has less energy and power than normal. So be patient and make allowances for it.

#2 HYDRATE

And I mean that you need to drink water. Not 5 cups of coffee. Not over-caffeinated tea. WATER. Water is the best thing to help your body flush all of the germs and crud out of your body and to thin the mucus in your lungs so that you can breath and sleep better. If plain water does not appeal to your senses, I suggest that you warm it up and add a little bit of honey and lemon to it, which can also sooth a sore throat or ease a chilled body.

#3 Have realistic goals.

You are tired. You are bored. Your body and brain do not play nice when you’re sick so cut yourself a break, and make your goals achievable! My goal today was to write in my journal. I did that. The fact that I also got on my laptop and wrote a blog post is amazing and it means I’m probably on the upswing of this whole mess.

But most of all, take care of yourself, reader. It’s a crazy place out there.

All my best,

RL Platt