Working when you don't feel 100%...

[AGXStarseed]

We all have days were we feel ill or in pain - either feeling a bit 'under a weather' or to the point where even trying to get out of bed seems to drain every ounce of energy from you.

My question is, how ill are you normally when you feel going to work would be a bad idea?

For me, if I'm a bit under the weather with a slight headache or cold then I'll chance it and just do as much as I can in a day.
On days when I feel 'shocking' with no energy or on days where I keep feeling that I'm going to be throwing up, I decided not to risk it and ring in sick.

 

[WittyAspie]

Sick days are a gray area. I follow the same general guidelines you do.

 

[Ambi]

It's so hard to ignore discomfort to continue on to do something stressful and uncomfortable/anxiety provoking like work. When I did work, I used to call out if I had a cold, just because a cold actually totally wipes me out. Luckily I didn't catch colds very often though - only once or twice a year. But I think that just anxiety and various other issues do make me feel uncomfortable very frequently, and it's helpful to realize that that's half the reason I don't like going to work, because I'm not feeling 100% to begin with.

 

[Bolletje]

I used to call in sick a lot. Whenever I woke up and felt gloomy and doomy I would make up physical illness and call in sick, because calling in sick with "Sorry, but I have this sense of impending doom, so I've decided not to leave the house today" tends to not go over well with superiors. I've learned that calling in sick when I feel like this only increases my anxiety about going back to work, which always lead to vicious cycles of me calling in sick more and more until I just quit or got fired.
These days I just go to work unless I'm too sick to leave the house. I have decided to take a mental health day when I feel like I really need one, but I will not do so lightly and haven't needed one in the last 6 months.

 

[Judge]

My question is, how ill are you normally when you feel going to work would be a bad idea?

When I worked in insurance, I'd have to be dying. Otherwise just a huge stack of files would continually accumulate on my desk. Back then everything processed was a physical file and not something simply sitting on your computer's hard drive. When agents would call using the phone, before we even had email. So voicemail would pile up too.

So seeing masses of files in your cubicle could be inherently demoralizing. At least it was to me. And in an office structure where no other person would take up the slack. So any time off became a "painful" matter. Far worse than showing up at work sick. It was a vicious cycle for sure. Just another reason for me to eventually leave.

I suppose in today's workplace, what you can't see won't hurt you so much!

When I worked in web design I enjoyed the job too much to take time off. But then in those years I don't even recall ever being sick.

 

[Ambi]

I used to call in sick a lot. Whenever I woke up and felt gloomy and doomy I would make up physical illness and call in sick, because calling in sick with "Sorry, but I have this sense of impending doom, so I've decided not to leave the house today" tends to not go over well with superiors. I've learned that calling in sick when I feel like this only increases my anxiety about going back to work, which always lead to vicious cycles of me calling in sick more and more until I just quit or got fired.
These days I just go to work unless I'm too sick to leave the house. I have decided to take a mental health day when I feel like I really need one, but I will not do so lightly and haven't needed one in the last 6 months.

Actually, I've done this, too - I've taken mental health days without calling them that, and I did have to do that periodically just to "catch up" on mental health after the stress of working consistently for a while. I think I took many more mental health days than for when I had a cold.

 

[Bolletje]

Actually, I've done this, too - I've taken mental health days without calling them that, and I did have to do that periodically just to "catch up" on mental health after the stress of working consistently for a while. I think I took many more mental health days than for when I had a cold.

I think 90% of my days off have been to recuperate mentally, I've just recognized that in the past I've taken a sick day too easily.

 

[Katleya]

That's a very interesting question.

I hated taking days off for the same reason as Judge, because nobody would have covered for me, and more time away meant more things to catch up with upon returning. I would try my best to go even if I was feeling very bad, with the exception of migraines because they left me no choice but to call in sick, since they could get so bad I couldn't stand, walk or open my eyes without throwing up. Doesn't make the perspective of a neon-lit desk too enticing
And every once in a while, my back would throw itself out, or some other limb would start doing their own thing and prevent me from walking, so there, too, I was left with no choice but to call in sick. But I think it would get to that point precisely because I wasn't looking after myself enough, and I should have considered the mental health day more often.

Bottom line is, I think it's important to listen to the signs, and find the right balance between cutting yourself enough slack and cutting yourself too much slack.

 

[wight]

Physically, I have to be "mostly dead" to not go to work.

Mental Health...different story, I tend to take more of these days than anything and even then not often.

 

[Gracey]

When I actually have a job, I'd have to be pronounced dead by a medical professional not to turn up for work.
Whether or not my productivity or patience is any good when I get there is a different story altogether.
I appear to operate on a "Go hard or go home" principle...which I now recognise as burnout and am looking for a some sort of balance or technique to use to change down a gear.