One of the most unfortunate things about being sick is that when you're better, you end up feeling like you've lost a day (or two or more — however long you've been sick).

I awoke feeling much better today, but with this sense that there is a hole where yesterday was supposed to be. I guess that comes from only being awake for 8 or 10 hours of the day.

At any rate, there is a lot I need to get caught up on, and October is almost over ... which means NaNoWriMo is almost here! I'm taking it easy today, but starting tomorrow I'll need to be back up to speed — and then some.

Here's what I've got going for the week so far:

* 7 articles
* At least 1 press release — maybe 2 or 3
* Finish my website revisions — an overhaul of my portfolio and services sections that I have been working on for some time, now
* Start trolling the markets again, once my website revisions are live — something I haven't done regularly in months
* Revise/prepare several contest submissions
* Outline this year's NaNo novel
* Start writing my NaNo novel on Thursday

I'm going to start slow, since I don't feel up to doing a whole lot today yet, but by tomorrow I hope to take on a full load of work, in addition to starting to outline my NaNo novel.

Labels: freelancing, NaNoWriMo 2007, under the weather

The last time I posted about being "under the weather," it was because I was having frequent headaches. Being that they seemed to be connected with working (i.e. staring at the computer screen), the headaches were severely affecting my productivity.

Although the headaches cleared up on their own (because I started getting more sleep? or because my eyes grew accustomed to the change in lifestyle?), I am sorry to report that I am once again "under the weather" — this time with the worst cold I've had in several years, at least.

I noticed Friday night that I was starting to experience more congestion than usual. By the time I woke up Saturday morning, the congestion had become worse, and my throat was sore to boot. The symptoms steadily worsened throughout the day, even with medication (which might not have been working very well, as it later turned out to be expired — oops). By evening, I was completely miserable.

Unfortunately, I had plans to babysat yesterday evening, and I didn't have the heart to cancel at the last minute. As it turned out, it didn't matter, because it quickly became clear that those same kids were the ones that gave me the cold when I was last there (Wednesday evening). It's no fun babysitting when you don't feel well, though — and to make matters worse, it was a later night than usual for this family.

This is where I get to point out what a wonderful husband I have. When I arrived home, drippy-nosed and cranky, Michael went out and bought me lotion Kleenex and two kinds of cold medicine. Honestly, without his little rescue operation, I think I would have passed a much more uncomfortable night than I actually did.

I have spent most of today in bed. I slept until noon, got up for a few hours, slept for another hour, and then read for a bit. Getting lots of sleep usually helps me to kick a cold (or whatever I've got), so I'm hoping to be feeling much better by tomorrow morning. Actually, I've almost got to be feeling better — being sick this weekend has caused me to fall behind on two clients' projects, and I missed going to the stables today.

Amy Derby of Write-From-Home.com commented on my headaches post that she can usually work through a cold. Sadly, I am a big baby about being sick. For one thing, I am rather OCD about congestion — I blow my nose constantly, compulsively, until it goes away. (Hence the need for lotion Kleenex.) That kind of activity makes typing difficult. For another... Well, suffice it to say (again) that I am just a baby about being sick. When I am groggy, sniffly, and achey, the last thing I want to be doing is working.

Anyway, it'll all still be there tomorrow.

Labels: freelancing, Michael, under the weather

Writing from home isn't all fun and games. Many other forums have addressed myths such as:

1) Writing in coffee shops all the time
2) Being able to rearrange your schedule whenever you want (i.e. on warm-weather, let's-go-to-the-beach kinds of days)
3) Not having a "real job"

Of course, there is some truth to these myths (well, except for the one about writing not being a real job), but other people are known for exaggerating the benefits of a writer's life.

This post isn't about those things, though. It's about debunking the myth that writers, since we work from home, have no occupational hazards.

Of course, anyone who has suffered Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) knows that we face plenty of hazards in our jobs. And unlike many workers with hazardous jobs, we don't get sick days or medical leave. So if our wrists start hurting from too much typing or mouse-work, we have to make a decision between taking care of our bodies and taking care of our bills.

Now, I haven't suffered any symptoms of RSI for several months (yes, I still get it from time to time, but never as bad as what I experienced early on in my freelance career). Right now I'm having an entirely different type of writing-related strain: eye strain.

It's been a problem primarily in the last week or two: I develop a headache behind and around my eyes anytime I am on my computer for more than about 45 minutes. I'm not the type of person who is comfortable with popping pills all day long, so I have been taking breaks -- doing laundry, reading (which, oddly enough, doesn't cause the headaches), and visiting Panama -- periodically throughout my days. Unfortunately, while this helps me manage the headaches somewhat, it has a devastating effect on my productivity.

I've noticed a few trends regarding these headaches:

1) They almost always occur within the first 45 minutes of being on the computer.

2) Far-sighted activities -- i.e. watching movies, working with Panama, driving -- do not cause the headaches. I can do those all day long without a hint of a headache.

3) Among more near-sighted activities, it is only the laptop screen that seems to cause headaches. I can read without any problems, even though I hold my book even a little closer than the computer screen.

4) Any light source behind my laptop screen seems to make things worse. My desk is right in front of our west-facing study window, so I sit facing the window with my laptop right in front of me. The glare of the sun in the late afternoons makes the blinds "glow." For some reason, having this right behind my laptop screen makes the headaches come on faster, so I have to retreat to a different location toward the end of the day. Also, I have had to stop opening the blinds during the morning and mid-day, because more light comes in and causes the same general results.

I'm almost certain that I need a new glasses prescription. Why this big of a change all of a sudden, though? I think it actually has to do with Panama: Suddenly I am no longer staring at a computer screen eight or more hours a day, but using my eyes for seeing far during at least half of every day. I think my eyes are rebelling against the strength of my current prescription.

I have always been quite near-sighted -- so near-sighted, in fact, that if I took off my glasses right now I'd have to have my face about a foot away from the screen in order to read what I am writing. However, I have always felt that my poor eyesight has partly to do with how often I do things that require only close-up vision.

For example, when I became a full-time writer, and I was suddenly staring at a computer all day long with few interruptions, my vision worsened.

Also, when my diabetes was brought under control and the sugar cleared out of my eyes, my vision rebounded to 20/25 for three glorious weeks. In other words, my eyes had actually changed shape to compensate for the clouds of sugar I was trying to see through, and once that was gone they gradually returned to their normal shape.

At any rate, I suspect that my vision is improving slightly thanks to a healthier mix of activities -- similarly to how getting off my butt for several hours every day has helped me lose a few pounds. Unfortunately, this is resulting in a lot of painful and disorienting headaches right now, which interferes with my work. As a result, I need to take a trip to the eye doctor that neither my schedule nor my finances are prepared for right now.

Anyone who thinks writers don't have occupational hazards can kiss my semi-blind a$$.

Labels: freelancing, under the weather

Today has been d*mned disappointing. Although I did succeed in improving my work time (lately I've been struggling with working slowly and being distracted easily), my small victory has been overshadowed by everything else that happened today.

1) The power went out. From about 11:30am until 1:30pm, the power was out at my house. Although my laptop battery was fully charged, allowing me to continue working, I had to do so without Internet access. Thankfully, I had already done enough research to continue working on my current project.

2) I forgot to feed the dogs. You know how when a bunch of things all go wrong at once, how a little thing can suddenly seem a much bigger deal than it actually is? This is one of those things.

3) I didn't get to the stables to see Panama. This also supports the feeling that I've been a bad mommy today. In the month since Panama first arrived, I've never skipped my daily visit -- until today. Unfortunately, I had a lot of work and I was running short on time. Of course, now I'm fretting about missing a day of cleaning his stall, wondering whether he has enough water, and imagining all of the terrible things that could be happening right now that I won't know about because I'm not there.

4) I haven't paid Panama's stable rent yet. Three strikes and you're a bad mommy! I've been behind on work the last couple of days, and with the beginning of the month and all that means being behind on bills, too. And no, reminding myself that I'll pay it tomorrow doesn't help at all.

5) I'm behind on work. The fact that I was able to work a little faster today notwithstanding, I am sadly behind on my work. I'll be working the rest of the evening for sure.

Now that I've griped about it, I'd better get back to work. With any luck, I can catch up by tomorrow evening.

Labels: freelancing, my horse Panama, the menagerie, under the weather

As a freelance writer, I have my good days and my bad days: Some days I am extremely productive, and other days I can't seem to get anything done, for whatever reason.

Unfortunately, this week has been the later so far.

I was doing great, I really was. I have been quite busy, so I drew up a daily schedule to help myself stay focused. I've been getting up early (i.e. 7am) with Michael for the last three or four weeks, and the earlier schedule has enabled me to add several work hours to my day.

Nevertheless, this week feels like it's been on fast forward -- the days have seemed to go twice as fast as usual, because I can't seem to get done all the things I normally would. And then yesterday, I had cramps and some minor body aches, but basically it kept me from getting comfortable enough to stay in the same place longer than about a half an hour at a time -- and getting up every half an hour is not conducive to a productive day.

What about you? Do you have good days and bad days? What typically constitutes a good day (or a bad day) for you?

Labels: discussions, freelancing, under the weather

I thought last night that what I had was just an allergy attack, but now it's quite clearly more than that. I'm pretty sure that I caught a cold from the sick baby I babysat last Saturday night.

I feel pathetic. I got some decent freelancing work done today, but I'm wiped out from the effort - even though all I did was sit on the couch all day, all bundled up in blankets. So, I'm crying off of NaNoWriMo tonight.

Here's my plan: tomorrow I am going to get all of my freelance work out of the way (which shouldn't be hard, since I don't have any really serious deadlines looming over my head right now). Then I'll be free to catch up on my novel over the weekend. In order to get totally caught up, I'll basically need to write about 8,000 words by the time I go to bed Sunday evening. I think I can do that, though, with all my freelance work out of the way.

In any case, I'm heading to bed now to get another good 10 hours or so of sleep. It helped quite a bit last night, so I'm hoping that another night of it will completely kick this cold.

Labels: freelancing, NaNoWriMo 2006, novel writing, under the weather

I had a rough weekend, and the last thing that I feel like doing right now is working. Unfortunately, I have a lot of work piled up, so I can hardly afford to take another night off.

I started feeling kind of sick Thursday night. I didn't pay it much attention, just noticed I was having a hard time working. Friday was worse - I felt queasy all day. By Friday evening, I felt so bad that I couldn't work at all. I went to bed early, and slept late on Saturday, too. And then I was tired much earlier than usual Saturday night, as well. I got a little work done Saturday, but then my wrist started hurting Saturday night (I get symptoms of either carpal tunnel or repetitive strain injury sometimes), which kept me from working as well.

Today I felt better, but I had a toy show to go to, for an article I'm writing. As a result of being sick and having other stuff to do today, I just haven't gotten much work done in the past few days. It's pathetic.

As always after being away from work for a few days, I have the feeling of not wanting to work, combined with the unfortunate reality of having a lot of work built up that I really need to get done; and as a result I want to work even less.

Well, I guess I had better suck it up and see how much I can get done tonight before I get tired again. Since my body's first reaction whenever I'm sick (or getting over being sick) is always to sleep a lot, I will probably not last much longer tonight.

Labels: freelancing, under the weather