Advice for getting a last productive wfh day tomo even tho I’m sick

[DetectiveDouche]

I’ve got a viral thing. I took today off sick and I’ve not left my bed apart from necessary wee trips… it’s a fluey thing but not because I can eat.. in a fashion.

I have a job that makes taking time off sick a complete nightmare. Had to reschedule some home visits until New Year, that really shouldn’t have been rescheduled but couldn’t be helped. Think social work type thing.

Tomorrow I can work from home, but work I must in order to to be able to meet unavoidable deadlines before Christmas. Even though I know I’m not going to want to want to leave my bed again.

So advice please.. practical tips for getting through tomorrow productively even though I feel like shit on a stick. Because I really really can’t go sick again tomorrow. There is system where stuff will go red and affect my whole team if I don’t meet the deadlines before Christmas. It sucks but I can’t let that happen.

Can you actually work safely - make properly informed decisions when so ill?

@RandomMess I’ve done most of the legwork in advance .. I just need to sit there at my desk, preferably remaining in a upright position, and hammer stuff out in a legible fashion and submit it. Assessments and suchlike

I always feel roughest first thing in the morning so I'd get up and make sure I had a shower and have breakfast as that perks me up, I'd make lunch and a flask at the same time to make sure I ate even if I didn't feel up to getting up its easier to prepare it all in one go. Dose yourself up on lemsip and whatever else you need. I'd cancel any non essential video calls and then just plod through my admin work, If I really needed it I'd sleep for a bit after lunch and then work later to make the time up. Depends on how flexible your role is.

Tonight night nurse if you have any?

Some extra Tlc in the morning

If you can get cracking early on

That's when I'm most productive

(I'm in the same boat
Sick with two reports due this week )

Best of luck 🤞

Is it COVID? COVID feels fluey, achy....but unfortunately most people don't seem to loose appetite.

Lemsip it to the max all day.

Can you sorta do a 40/20 break kinda thing.

Work for 40 minutes and rest for 20 throughout the day as your work from home.

Think that's only 8x 40minute stints you have to do..that's it and the day is done.

I do this when I'm really poorly but need to work, and I find it helps me keep on track and be productive.

I would say you are asking the wrong question

You shouldn't be asking how can I work when I am too sick to work?

You should be asking How have I let myself get into a situation where I feel like I have to work when I am too sick to work? ANd, more importantly, how do I get myself out of it?

ANd take tomorrow off sick, if you are too sick to work.

In the long run you are only going to damage yourself, your family, your team, your clients and your industry with this attitude

Have you taken paracetamol?

It sounds as though you have a job where your performance may affect patient/client safety. Is your judgment sound? Can you be sure you won't make errors? If not you should not be in work and your boss should not want you to be.

The other option you have is call in sick, but send an e-mail to a nice manager saying "these deadlines are due but I'm too ill to work sorry, but I don't want the target to fail"

I'm a manager and to be honest as long as I knew the target was there, I'd simply manage the target on your behalf.

Sickness can't be helped. People get sick 🤷🏻‍♀️ targets can be managed effectively by management in your absence, that's partially what we are paid for!

It’s not Covid. I’m testing daily and not a sign although by right it should as DH has just got over it

All of this.

OP, your approach is simply not sustainable. Personally, I rarely take sick leave, happily am rarely sick but also tend to 'power through'. It's not a particularly wise approach. I say this meaning I know where you are coming from ...
But - you are not well enough to work. You are here looking for tips to somehow work when clearly too unwell.

You will not do a good job. You need to notify your manager and let them deal with it.

I have spent the last few months, as a manager, having to do exactly this as so many people on my team have been sick.

And feel better soon! 💐

I find taking short naps of 90 minutes really helpful when I have to get some work done.

And sending a bit of solidarity to you. I have a large project due at 5pm tomorrow that will have a big impact on my life. It's about 85% done.

urgh. I’m in a similar boat. My approach is start early and finish early as I know I’ll feel worse as the day goes on. Have a shower (wakes me up and makes me feel more like I’m in my routine) and… use voice dictation instead of typing as it’s quicker (for me) dose up. Good luck and please turn off at 5pm and put your out of office on at the end of the day!

Just an update and thanks for the advice of yesterday.

I actually woke up feeing 100 times better. Not great/healthy but more than capable of my wfh tasks ahead of me today. Sadly DH has gone down with it (so am going to have to further rally and go do the food shopping later which he was going to do).. temperature of 39 degrees and coughing himself sick and shivering. God knows what my temperature was.. the thermometer only arrived from Amazon this morning but it’s normal now so good-oh!

I can’t emphasise enough that taking to your bed with a fluey bug, really does make the world of difference to the healing process.

Also, I work for local government and we are awash with reports of how badly this “horrendous fluey bug” is affecting everyone.. which was what was predicted for this winter. So try to stay well everyone.. obsessive hand washing etc

Coffee and alternate paracetamol and ibuprofen every two hours

Cant tolerate coffee atm @YukoandHiro .. bleurrgh.. but alternating paracetamol and ibuprofen washed down with old school lucozade. I did the work.. out of office is on.. but I’ve crashed a bit. Bath, get dressed and Tesco next….