Successful people take sick days. They even do it when they’re not actually sick.
But they know to use their sick days strategically. They know to not take too many, to never rort the system, nor to ever waste their own time or risk their reputation by taking an ill-timed or poorly throught-out day to themselves.
Taking a ‘sickie’ is rare. It’s a once yearly kind of thing. Just because your employer gives you ten sick days, or you run your own business and can have as many as you want, doesn’t mean you should actually use such entitlements. For starters, you may need to use your sick days for when you or your kids are actually sick. Meanwhile, it doesn’t look good to be taking random, sporadic days off and having your colleagues continually wonder if you’re actually sick.
Plan a ‘sickie‘. Don’t just call in sick when you have a hangover. These precious sick days are a chance to mentally recover from the multiple stresses in your life, to take time out from your diary, to regroup and reconsider your priorities. If you wake up hungover, deal with it and take it to work. Mentally plan your sickies at least days or even weeks before actually taking them. You don’t want to end up playing catch-up because you haven’t quietly organised for your day off.
Consider your colleagues. If you work in a job where somebody will have to step in and manage your daily tasks while you’re off ‘sick’, then sadly it’s not the kind of job you should take a ‘sickie’ from. It’s not fair to put another colleague out so you can ‘mentally recharge’. Sickies should only be taken when workloads are low, projects are far from reaching their deadlines and when nobody else has to suffer for your time out of the office.
Don’t use a sickie to avoid a meeting or a deadline. Never, ever come up with a mystery illness to get out of something you don’t want to do. This will immediately raise suspicions and reflect poorly on you. Calling in sick to escape some deadline, meeting or something else you’re trying to avoid will merely delay the problem and may even make it more difficult to manage. Get what needs to be done out of the way before taking a sick day. It will make it all the more rewarding.
Think, do I really need to call in sick? If you’ve put in the extra hours and have worked yourself silly trying to get a project completed, don’t immediately think the only way to get some time back is to call in sick. Ask your manager if you can have a day off to mentally recharge. You might be surprised by the answer.
Don’t feel guilty. There’s no point taking a sickie if you’re going to sit around all day feeling guilty about it. Plan your sickie well, make sure nobody is left in the lurch or having to pick up your slack, and use the time to effectively wind down rather than worrying about what you’re not getting done.
Check your employment contact. Require a doc’s certificate to call in sick? Then leave the sick days for when you can actually need one.