This morning I woke up with a killer headache. After assessing my work schedule I decided to stay home and try to sleep it off.
I'm crackberried up, so I don't think there is truly any real "off" day anymore unless I absolutely power down. I decided to put it on silent and go back to sleep and I only checked it once or twice during the morning. Feeling better in afternoon, I took part in more active emailing and also a conference call.
I remember when a sick day literally meant you were off the grid. Unless your boss was a real slave driver and tracked you down by phone on a declared sick day, you were off the hook.
I am a self-recognized workaholic. Right now BOTH my hubby and I are working long hours (this is a boring recurring theme in my blog!) and it is a more interesting process to stay in touch with one another and get in that quality time.
Tonight we had a meeting scheduled with a financial advisor, but hubby has work crises and must work late. I'm taking my drugged up head out to the appt and am happy to carry the load. We're really partnering to get things done these days.
Last week my friend, colleague, and sometimes conscience Amybow put out a post reflecting on my horrific work habits. I'm not sure I can explain myself appropriately to people who have children or more demands than I do at home. There is a sense of satisfaction I get from accomplishing lingering work tasks that doing a load of laundry at home just can't compare to. I am well-paid and well-recognized at my job and I admit to reveling in feeling needed there. I harbor no illusions that should I get hit by a bus tomorrow, the company would go on just fine without me. In contrast, my husband and family would not - I mean they would, but it would be hard. I've read Tuesdays with Morrie, I've heard all the statements about people who never regret spending too little time at work when they are old and gray. But, despite the fact that it sounds defensive...it does give me satisfaction.
I guess it comes down to choice. When it is someone else's choice or priority that drives me to work long hours, that is tough. When it is MY choice and I've weighed it against all my other options for my time that day, I'm okay with it. There are not many jobs/companies that give you the freedom to make that choice, and 9 times out of 10, it is my choice.
So, how I define a "sick"day is feeling crappy and feeling that it's okay to stay home in bed today. It's also okay to keep my crackberry near by and participate as I feel is necessary in the work day.
Reality check anyone? (be kind...but be honest...my ego can take it)
4 comments:
my first thought was... wenderina, sick day - right ha ha ha. Good one. But after reading this, wow, guess you really were sick. I rarely take days off but a few weeks ago i woke up and was struck with a sudden: "I can't do this" moment. And i still don't know why. Just know that i felt hollow and unmotivated and not willing to drag my butt to work and go through the motions. And I felt guilty at different points throughout the day, but mostly felt like I just didn't care. It was a Friday, so when I returned on Monday I felt sooo refreshed. My advice? Take a day when you need it. Just because you aren't "ready to be put out to pasture" sick or "need to go to ER" ill doesn't mean you don't need a day... a headache more than qualifies, even if it's just a tension one from doing really hard performance evals or whatnot. everyone deserves a break, even a workaholic.
Truly what this says about you is that (aside from being a great person) you are a wonderful employee. You care about your job, you have the integrity to want to get stuff done - correctly - and (believe it or not, I am actually saying this) you have things in perspective.
I didn't say that you had horrific work habits. Rather, what I said was that I wish I had a job I cared about as much as you do. Not a reflection on you, a reflection on me and my goals. "Being like Wenderina" while one one of my primary goals, seems more unattainable every day. Stop being so good!
Seriously... I used to do a schedule very much like this one while I was a single mother...
I can tell you sometimes you have to completely take yourself out of it. The executives I worked with would every once in a while say something like I'm going away, where there are no phones.
My boss would flip... but in the end? What could he do?
When you love your occupation, it's very easy to work 12-14 hour days and it is so hard not to be involved when you're ill. Most workaholics I know, including myself, are fortunate to earn a living doing what we love.
Most often, those people, who don't understand why we are so engrossed, are stuck in jobs they don't enjoy. I can't think of anything worse than spending each day working at a job I didn't like.
I understand the guilt of taking time off to regenerate and rejuvenate. But there is a reason your body is telling you to do so. We all need a break sometime to keep up our peak performance level.
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