You've heard it dozens of times before... Your employer and coworkers say that if you are sick, you should stay home. They don't want your funk! They don't want to be grossed out by seeing or hearing what you are dealing with, and they certainly don't want to catch it, so they want you as far away as possible.
Why do you still go to work when you're in these rough conditions? You need that paycheck! You also don't want to burn through your paid time off (PTO) being sick because you want those days for vacation. And you may have meetings and deadlines that you'd miss and set forth a chain reaction that would take days and weeks to recover from. Doesn't that make you feel important?
Despite all of your valid reasons, your office mates are still right. You shouldn't be in the office. And this is yet another reason that working from home is the cure for what ails you.
When you work from home, no one is there to catch your germs. No one has to listen to the sounds you make (coughing, sneezing, blowing your nose, or worse...) You are containing your germs to you!
There are creature comforts of working from home as well. If you need to sleep in a little longer, no one will notice if you didn't get dressed, fix your hair, put on makeup, or skip your morning workout. If you are having a fever or cold chills, you are able to adjust the thermostat appropriately and dress to match, including sporting that awesome Snuggie you try to deny you have. If you need to take medication throughout the day, you aren't raising any eyebrows. And you truly cannot articulate the value of having your own, private restroom. Even your lunch time becomes more valuable as you can catch a quick nap, run to the doctor, refill a prescription, fix a bowl of soup, or otherwise help yourself get well.
Here's the best part: You're able to do all of this AND work. BOOM!
All of this assumes that you have some cognitive ability to add value, of course. There are some illnesses that you can work through, and some you shouldn't. Sometimes 50% of you at work is better than 0%, but in other cases you should just focus on a complete mend so that you can come back to work strong sooner. Check out my prior blog about allowing yourself to actually call in sick.
In a time where HR measures corporate wellness by the number of "unhealthy days", companies are trying to maximize productivity, and employees are using their vacation time to actually take vacation, being able to NOT take a sick day has increasing value. And that drives up the already valuable nature of working at home.
Showing posts with label sick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sick. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Monday, August 3, 2015
Home Sick
Everyone gets sick at some point, including people that work from home. However, "sick" for folks at home looks a little different...
The average at-home worker doesn't take many sick days. The common illnesses that typically would keep you from going to the office are better managed and contained from home. Where before your colleagues would shame you and place you in a detox dome if you were coughing and sneezing all day, at home there is no one to notice. No one will catch your germs. No one cares if you let out a gross nose blow. On those days with "tummy troubles", your home restroom is closer and less occupied than the office, creating a much more private means to address your issues.
Because there is no concern of germs, inconvenience, or embarrassment, the at-home worker can actually continue to do their job without interruption. This is a big selling point for companies looking to improve their wellness stats by reducing the number of sick days taken. It sits well with employees too, as they don't have to burn through their time off to deal with trivial illnesses.
But, when at-home associates truly are ill enough that they cannot function, they too must perform the dreaded "call in sick". Here is where they get pay back for all those days they could work through minor illnesses and their in-office brethren could not. For the at-home worker, they are actually still in the office. The separation of physical space isn't as dramatic as cozy home versus cold office. Their desk is around the corner calling their name.
This results in a huge amount of guilt. It is also extremely enticing. These folks think to themselves: "I'm feeling better, so I'll go work for a bit." As a result, you are not giving yourself the full amount of time to rest. The work you are doing will be sub-par, and you will actually prolong your ability to get well. This is all the more reason that at-home workers need a separate place to work versus play. They need to be able to put it out of sight, out of mind.
The at-home worker may not even call in sick for some of the things that they should due to that same guilt or a delusion that at-home workers should be able to power through it and not be sick like those in the office.
Getting sick happens to the best of us. It's important to take care of yourself through exercise, diet, and personal care to ward off as much illness as possible. But if you do still end up under the weather, remember that is is okay. Stay in bed. Work will be here tomorrow.
The average at-home worker doesn't take many sick days. The common illnesses that typically would keep you from going to the office are better managed and contained from home. Where before your colleagues would shame you and place you in a detox dome if you were coughing and sneezing all day, at home there is no one to notice. No one will catch your germs. No one cares if you let out a gross nose blow. On those days with "tummy troubles", your home restroom is closer and less occupied than the office, creating a much more private means to address your issues.
Because there is no concern of germs, inconvenience, or embarrassment, the at-home worker can actually continue to do their job without interruption. This is a big selling point for companies looking to improve their wellness stats by reducing the number of sick days taken. It sits well with employees too, as they don't have to burn through their time off to deal with trivial illnesses.
But, when at-home associates truly are ill enough that they cannot function, they too must perform the dreaded "call in sick". Here is where they get pay back for all those days they could work through minor illnesses and their in-office brethren could not. For the at-home worker, they are actually still in the office. The separation of physical space isn't as dramatic as cozy home versus cold office. Their desk is around the corner calling their name.
This results in a huge amount of guilt. It is also extremely enticing. These folks think to themselves: "I'm feeling better, so I'll go work for a bit." As a result, you are not giving yourself the full amount of time to rest. The work you are doing will be sub-par, and you will actually prolong your ability to get well. This is all the more reason that at-home workers need a separate place to work versus play. They need to be able to put it out of sight, out of mind.
The at-home worker may not even call in sick for some of the things that they should due to that same guilt or a delusion that at-home workers should be able to power through it and not be sick like those in the office.
Getting sick happens to the best of us. It's important to take care of yourself through exercise, diet, and personal care to ward off as much illness as possible. But if you do still end up under the weather, remember that is is okay. Stay in bed. Work will be here tomorrow.
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