Sick Days

While I imagine at least one or two of my colleagues share my daydreams about merging our consciousness with robots, as of now the human race is undeniably and without any doubt, human. While this means that we have all sorts of human ways to fail (and succeed) what I can say is that nobody on the planet can avoid getting sick. Sometimes the only thing that our bodies allow us to do when we are sick is sleeping. And recuperating should always be your first goal whenever you get sick. But, there's another little thing that comes with sickness - boredom. So, here's some boredom fighting ideas that don't require your awesome brain to be running at full throttle, but also aren't going to make you feel like you're wasting time because you are sick.

Learn Something

Books

Nonfiction

I really like this book list: The Ultimate List of Programming Books. However, it doesn't include Team Geek which is one of my favorites related to working on programming teams.
The amount of non-fiction writing out there could fill several life-times of nonstop reading. Some of it really teaches us interesting things, some of it is really dry, but in general if you're reading something in the non-fiction category you're probably going to learn something. Even if it's only the title of a book you can't stand to read.

Fiction

I don't spend much time reading non-fiction any more. I'm a huge Star Wars fan, and as a kid I spent a good deal of time reading all of the novels that had "Star Wars" in the story-line somewhere. Thanks, Disney, for making all of that knowledge obsolete! Here's the thing, though. Even though that trivia I did have about Mara Jade and Admiral Daala really doesn't amount to a hill of beans regarding practical factual knowledge, spending that time reading taught me all kinds of things about how to communicate in writing. By reading the written communications others had spent time authoring and editing I spent time with "good writing". I'm not talking about the content, really - I'm talking more about the organizational structure, the syntax, the diction, the tone, and all of those things that transcend content itself. Human beings need to communicate with one another. Universities have entire degree programs - and advanced degree programs - dedicated to the study of the way we communicate. If you want to learn a little bit more about the ways we communicate ideas to one another, you can't go wrong by reading. Even if it is something silly or "non-academic" or whatever you want to call it. Here's some quotes written by better writers than me on the subject: 20 Surprisingly Profound Quotes From Fantasy & SciFi.

Documentaries

I don't really spend much time watching the youtubes or regular TV shows these days. By cutting TV (and specifically, the ridiculous amount of advertising that comes with it) down to a very limited selection of my most favorite things, I've bought myself a significant amount more time to get things done, like writing this blog. However, during sick time sometimes its pretty difficult to want to do anything besides lay on the couch and stare at the ceiling (or a TV). Even if you find yourself in this position, you can still spend time learning all kinds of crazy, interesting things. There's a channel on YouTube called Ted Talks - it will most certainly get your brain going.

Make Something

Blogging

Sitting at a computer desk to write may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you're not feeling well. But, if you've been keeping a regular blog such as I have, sometimes it feels good just to let ideas flow out onto a page and then come back to them later for editing purposes.  Even if you don't go about writing a full-fledged blog article while your hacking up a lung, you can use a mind mapping tool like XMind to capture your ideas to make them more concrete later.

Creative Hobbies

One of the best outlets I have for myself is my sketchpad. I really enjoy drawing, and others enjoy what I draw for them. In general, I tend to make a drawing and then give it away - because it brings a smile to other people's faces and it makes it so I can stop being a perfectionist about it! When I find myself with unfilled down-time, if I'm sick of reading, writing, or learning in general, I still don't tend to turn on the TV. Instead I pick up my pencils and drawing pad and get to work on something to activate my right brain. As programmers we have to make use of both halves of our brain - anyone who says we're not creative individuals hasn't ever seen some of the cool ways we solve complex problems with a series of simple steps. Creativity is a huge part of our profession, so if you find something that you enjoy which exercises the creative half of your brain you're helping your creative problem-solving side too. I know several programmers that are also musicians - so making music is a good outlet too. Creativity is part of who we are, and sick time - at least for me - is a great time to embrace it.

Your Regular Job

If you've called in sick, don't work. I bring up this point solely because I've been guilty of doing exactly that in the past. I call in on a sick day with a blazing fever, but decide that I've got a little bit of brainpower so I can get task XYZ done today without any interruptions. Yes, you're probably on a paid sick day so you're still "getting paid" to do this work. But nobody at your office is expecting you to do any work at all. Not one person. Doing work for work while sick is a little like stealing from yourself. Also, the normal stuff you do at work isn't likely to help you mentally recuperate, either. Do yourself and your employer a favor, set aside that thing you were working on at the office and do something else. Sick time is supposed to be recovery time.