There has been a lot of press and fear over the Coronavirus. Naturally, that has created an uptick in employees calling in sick. I’m guessing that for most of us, catching the Coronavirus at work isn’t an issue. However, a cold or flu is a possibility.
Should you call in sick if you have a cold or the flu? Do you go to work when you shouldn’t?
A new report found that 8 out of 10 professionals have caught a cold at work. The biggest culprit? Open floor plans, with 84% of professionals working in this setting saying they’ve got sick. Additionally, people working in an open floor plan missed the most days due to sickness by far – 3.3, compared with an average of 2.8 days per year.
Calling in sick is a discussion that people feel strongly about. Some feel that if you are well enough to work, you should come into work. If you are so ill that you can’t stay awake, can’t focus, and can’t work at all, that is when you should stay at home.
Others feel that they don’t want your sniffly nose or your dry-hacking cough in the office as they don’t want to catch it at all. They want you to work from home.
Statistically, 76% of workers said they go into the office when they’re sick.
What we need to have a collective agreement on is “define what sick means.” We know some people call in sick routinely (often on sunny Fridays in the summer!). We know some people abuse this option.
If your company allows you to work from home, then that should be an option when we have a runny nose, a cough, or a scratchy throat. Yes, there will be people who abuse that too.
If your company doesn’t have that option, we need to determine what qualifies as calling in sick and what doesn’t.
When I was a kid, my mom’s definition of “too sick to go to school” meant that you didn’t want to eat breakfast, and you wanted to stay in bed (not propped up in front of the television). So, if I wanted to stay at home from school, I knew what that meant. That was a long and boring day, so I certainly didn’t abuse that definition when I was a kid.
Do you keep yourself healthy? Do you follow the rules? I’m willing to bet that you don’t. Avoiding the flu is a full-time job.
[ctt template=”3″ link=”s6n79″ via=”yes” ]Avoiding the flu is a full-time job![/ctt]
Here are some ideas that you should apply immediately to ensure you don’t contract nor spread the flu this season.
If you start to feel lethargic, listen to your body, and sleep!
Take one morning to sleep in as long as your body needs to sleep in. If you have children, arrange for someone else to take them for the night, for someone else to get up with them in the morning, or for them to take care of themselves until you get enough sleep. You’re right; some of you will sleep until noon (most of us will want to!). If you are sleeping, the body is healing itself, and that is necessary to ensure you don’t contract the flu. If your body didn’t need that sleep, you wouldn’t sleep that long.
If sleeping in isn’t your thing, a better option is to go to bed very early one evening. If the kids go down at 7:30 p.m., go with them. If you are alone, go to bed even if the sun is still shining. Who cares if you wake up at 4 a.m. — you’ll feel better in the morning (remember that healing effect that sleeping has).
Water, water, and more water
Keeping yourself hydrated is extremely important to keep your body healthy and virus free. We know that drinking six to eight 8-ounce glasses a day is good for you. It helps boost your immunity and provides you a bit of an energy boost too. Coffee, tea, soda, etc. do not count. Please make sure you have pure water and lots of it!
Exercise
Ensuring you exercise daily is vitally important to keep those nasty germs away. I don’t mean you have to go to the gym and run the treadmill or lift weights for hours each day, but you have to keep yourself moving.
Invest in a pedometer to ensure you force yourself to get 10,000 steps daily. You’ll be surprised how hard that can be. You are boosting your immune system with each extra step.
Take care of yourself, so you will be in a position to take care of others.
[ctt template=”3″ link=”Q16KD” via=”yes” ]Take care of you so you will be in a position to take care of others[/ctt]
Washing your hands, using sanitizer, staying away from people who are sick, drinking large amounts of water, taking vitamins, getting enough sleep, and exercising are all things that we should regularly be doing anyway.
Don’t be the one that spreads the flu around. Don’t be the one who causes someone else to be sick, and don’t be the one who potentially kills someone else.
Taking care of yourself is important. Taking care of the others around you is equally as important.
Now wash your hands and have a glass of water!
