Flip the Script on Working When Sick
This is the tough love you know you need + practical boundaries
Welcome! You’re reading The Psychology of Thriving @ Work, a free career well-being publication dedicated to improving working parents' careers and lives with science-based careers, stress management, and well-being tips. This publication is written by
your friendly neighborhood holistic carer coach, organizational psychology expert, and queer, neurospicey mom.
You’re bleary-eyed from a feverish, sleepless night of raspy mouth breathing.
You've collected all the tissues, painkillers, decongestants, and cough drops you can find in your house, hoarding them like a dragon with its trove of gold.
You’re sick… and if you have kids, it’s for what feels like the 1000th time this year.
You drag yourself to your laptop (or worse, drive yourself into the office to get everyone else sick), knowing you’ll be barely functional today but showing up for the daily grind anyway.
🛑 Stop right there…
Why, exactly, are you working today?
No, seriously— let’s get specific.
Are you performing a life-saving emergency surgery that couldn’t be rescheduled? (And if you’re a doctor, we’d really rather you not be vomiting while doing surgery on us, thank you).
No?
Oh, then perhaps you have a once-in-a-lifetime conversation that absolutely has to happen today and cannot be rescheduled.
No?
Oh, you have a… typical workday?
Yes, it’s a busy, jam-packed day, and I know it’s inconvenient to reschedule those ten meetings.
But honestly— why exactly are you working when you’re sick?
How sick must you be to give yourself a day to rest?
Let’s look at this another way: How sick does your kid have to be to get the day off from school to rest? (Ironically, if you’re both sick, they probably got you sick AND are staying home from school today while you attempt to work and parent simultaneously.)
When did you learn that your health is less important than your output?
When were you planning on sitting your kid down and telling them that the behavior you’re modeling is what they need to internalize so they grow up to be good little compulsive overachievers?
I know I’m being very snarky. I’m (kinda) sorry.
My goal isn’t to be mean, it’s to help you step outside of your own internalized narratives of what a “successful,” “good,” and “productive” member of society is, and most of us are so damn cemented in our ways it takes a bit of a shock (or snark) to let us see a different perspective.
I know you have important work to do.
But your health is important too. It's more important than that meeting, right?
So if your urge to work when sick is simply unchecked, evangelical work ethic, internalized capitalism, and basing your self-worth off of your constant productivity gone awry (can those things not be awry?), here’s your invite to flip the script:
What if, instead of asking yourself if you're sick enough to take the day off, you ask yourself: Am I well enough to work?
You can use me as your scapegoat: Your career coach said you had to take the day off.
But wait, there’s more to this sickness
As sick as our tendency to work when under the weather is (punny, eh?), this problem is bigger than having to mute yourself on that Zoom call while you trumpet-horn your snotty nose—it’s about how many of us keep sacrificing our physical and mental health, happiness, and well-being on the alter of our professional productivity and career success. It’s a theme we let play out over and over and over until work has consumed every ounce of our time and identity… and then we wonder why “suddenly” one day we wake up, and 1 in 3 of us are utterly burnt out and feel like our lives are simply work, parent, sleep, repeat.
If you really HAVE to work, can you do less?
I’d rather you take the day off, but if you must work, let’s take some baby steps in the right direction. What if you…
Canceled any meetings that aren’t absolutely critical (and reschedule them when you’re BETTER, not right now! Or, you can let the other person reschedule them).
Kept your video off during calls
Asked your boss and/or coworkers for help
Only worked on fun stuff
Only worked on the absolutely most critical stuff
Worked from home
Worked a half-day
Took a mental health day on a different, less busy day
Ignored your Slack and emails
Told everyone you’re taking the day off and only did the 5% of stuff you absolutely have to do
Do you have other boundaries/compromises (honestly, these feel like compromises, not boundaries) you put in place related to work when sick? Let me know!
👋Nice to meet you; I’m Lydia Fogo Johnson, MS. I’m a holistic career and burnout coach for parents. My writing and coaching focus on career fulfillment, workplace well-being, mental health, stress/burnout recovery and prevention, work/life balance, and motherhood.
Are you a parent teetering on the edge of burnout from juggling a demanding career and busy family life?
My holistic career coaching practice is dedicated to helping parents design fulfilling, burnout-free careers that leave more space for the rest of their lives. Whether you need to improve your current job, find a new job, or undergo a major career/life pivot, I’m here to help.
Visit my website to learn more about my services and book a free 30-minute career coaching consultation.
Well said. Doctors are the worst at working while sick. It makes no sense, as you aptly point out! Thanks for this.