HealthyBea

I’ve Never Taken a Sick Day

And that is not a flex. I am not shining a trophy. I would never recommend to a peer that they power through their illness and I would always encourage them to take time to recover. So, why am I different? Why can’t I take my own advice? 

This reflection stems from a recent week on the job during which I was technically well enough to work, so I did, but sick enough that I was constantly feeling like I should stop, which I didn’t. Did my colleagues pressure me to work? Nope. They even urged me to take a sick day or two. So why didn’t I listen? 

I am certainly not in a position (important enough) just yet where work would truly suffer if I was gone a few days without notice. However, I did find myself in a situation where I would need to reschedule many calls I had initiated if I didn’t show up. And I am at a point in my career where being in the office and attending meetings physically really makes a difference. I don’t think one can achieve career goals as quickly as one hopes by working from home (as much as I do enjoy a hybrid schedule).

Additionally, I knew that if I had taken a day, I would suffer more by lying around thinking about how I would be falling behind. I would not only have to make up the work (perhaps over the weekend or after hours), but I might also be excluded from important updates or conversations. I admit that the only time I ever experience FOMO (aka fear of missing out) is when I am not present at school or work events (versus a normal person who can’t stand the thought of what they might miss by failing to attend a social activity). Again, my professional ambitions are typically my priority.

But then a little notice at work caught my attention. I saw a few automatic replies on Teams stating an out of office due to sickness. I lingered on those messages for a moment, feeling both inspiration and a new sense of pride for those who made the (what seemed like a huge) decision for themselves to take it easy and recover. Viewing the notes gave me hope that one day I would be brave enough to take a sick day when maybe I didn’t need it, but would certainly have been better off with it. 

So here I am, two weeks later, still feeling a trace of sickness because I didn’t make the decision to prioritise my health. Though upon reflection, I have come to the conclusion that I don’t actually regret my decision due to all of the work I was able to accomplish. I even feel pride in what I was able to achieve. However, I do think that is because of the particularly busy week for which I decided I needed to show up.

That said, my goal moving forward is to take my colleagues’ recommendations and own gut feeling to rest when I need to recover – even if I am not as sick as I know I could be. And I encourage everyone reading today’s post to contemplate the same for themselves. Similar to using vacation days, sometimes it really does feel harder to shift meetings and ensure everything is covered before heading out than simply powering through the work. But, we need to remember our longer term health, which does not and should not involve constantly stretching ourselves to our limits.

We cannot expect to show up everyday and offer ourselves completely if we are not first protecting our mental and physical health. So, let’s be brave enough to take the time we really need to maintain our wellbeing.

You got this, I got this ❤

Best,

Bea