Things to Do When You’re Sick (a story of recent personal experience)

Being sick sucks. It’s exhausting, lonely, and painfully boring. I should know, I’ve been going on one week of having no energy, a nasty chest cough, body aches that feel like I’ve been run over by a truck, and a cloudy congestion that makes it’s hard to believe my head is actually attached to me. So how have I kept dangling on the side of sanity throughout this time? Very carefully. It’s been pretty difficult finding things to keep me entertained enough to hold on to the realm of the living. But now that I’ve been through it and I think I’m seeing the light at the end of the germy, pounding tunnel I thought I’d pass the savings on to you. I’ve made a list of things to keep you occupied while you’re under the weather so you don’t go totally stir crazy! You’re welcome.

• Watch a shitload of TV: ‘But daytime and weekend TV sucks!’ you whine. Yeah, sometimes, though there are some gems out there if you look hard enough. I also have a feeling your standards will be a bit lower during your illness so just sit back and relax, who cares that you’re actually watching Steve Wilkos? Though if you’re that much of a snob then just make sure that you never, ever deplete your DVR stock. Because there will be a day (and it looks like it has arrived) when you are so desperate for entertainment and you’ve wasted all your saved TMZ episodes on an evening when you could have been falling asleep to The Late Show. (I assume everyone falls asleep to the TV because I’m certainly not the freak only one here…)
  But if you’re too much of an eager beaver when it comes to your DVR there is always On Demand. Here’s your chance to get into yet another TV show! You just have to do a little searching, maybe some trial and error but there is something on there for you, promise. Then, when you find something new, you can bulk up your DVR with the new episodes for the next time that pesky sinus infection pops up.
  If you happen to have a cable provider that offers a crappy On Demand selection you can always search for a nutty marathon to get sucked into. Weekends are especially good for these, there are always about twenty of them floating around your TV guide. You don’t know how many healthy afternoons I’ve spent glued to a Hoarder’s or Dateline on ID marathon. I guarantee you’ll blow through five hours without even knowing it. And oh yeah, for those of you into sports I’m sure there’s some of that on somewhere too.
• Read a Book: Let’s face it, reading these days consists of status updates and four paragraph blogs/news stories on the internet. After working all day and coming home to check email reading tends to be ignored but now that you’re sick here’s your chance to catch up. Go pick up that copy of “Lies My Teacher Told Me” that you put down five years ago and finally finish it!
• Start or Continue a Hobby: So you’re bedridden but you don’t want to just lay there like a lump. This is when you do a little thing I call ‘lazy-productive’. It’s when you pick up an activity that you can do with little exertion. Such activities include writing, crocheting/knitting, eavesdropping (if you live in an apartment), drawing, spying into other apartment windows (again, if you have that kind of view) or scrapbooking. These all require minimal effort, can be down while sitting down but still be very satisfying. Keep in mind, lazy-productiveness doesn’t have to be relegated to being done only when you’re sick. A regular lazy day works just fine for this to be put in action, I do it all the time!
• Sleep: Ah, sleep! Isn’t it the best? This is when your body needs it most and it’s also a great reason to catch up on that sleep you’ve been missing out on thanks to your busy work schedule and social life. Just go for it, sleep until noon, take a nap from 3pm to 6pm then go back to bed 9pm for the night. Besides, what’s better than staying in your pj’s all day and being the epitome of laziness? You’ve got no one to answer to and you’re at death’s door! Lastly, what makes sleep even cooler? Snuggling with your pet, of course.
• Tally the Amount of Fluids You’ve Drank (by glass): Getting enough fluids is super important when you’re sick. It can become overwhelming to continuously remind yourself to refill your glass so why not make it fun? Keep a running tally of the amount of glasses or cups you drink throughout the day just to see exactly how much you’re getting. Subsequently, keep a list of how many times you pee because it’s going to be a lot. Mix it up day-to-day (one day water, the next day juice) and see which fluids effect you the most! (What’s that you say? I must be really bored? Eh, I suppose, but how could you pass up an opportunity to get to know your body a little better?)
• Clean Your Bellybutton: …Everyone should.
• Have a Movie Marathon: Make the marathon specific though. Maybe watch a bunch of movies by a certain director, or pick one year and only watch movies from then, or maybe choose a word and just watch movies with that word in the title, perhaps only watch the early works of an actor/actress, or maybe just every single Stephen Baldwin movie ever made (but save Threesome for last because that’s 1990’s gold).

So, there you have it. I’ve given you some tools to cope with your boredom while home sick. It doesn’t have to be that bad (besides the fact that you feel like death). And next time you’re sick come up with more things to do so I’m not lying around with nothing to do!

-xo