On heroes and patient zeroes

I rarely get sick, and when I do, it seldom lasts more than 72 hours. Having just recently gotten over a nasty cold, however, I have a couple of thoughts on the matter of working through cold and flu season.

Inevitably, there will always be someone who feels that they can’t, for whatever reason, afford to take a sick day. So they load up on decongestants, fight their way in to the office, where they basically fill a seat with their butt, a trashcan with their snotty tissues, and their workplace with their germs.

Now, in many cases, our patient zero may legitimately feel that their paycheck is threatened by them taking a sick day. This is a failure of their corporate culture: if you’re going to get fired for catching a cold, you’re going to get fired for myriad other reasons. Resign yourself to that fact, stay home, and maybe start looking for something new.

For some others, it’s a point of pride to show how responsible and diligent they are by coming in and struggling through the day. Look at how hard they try. Poor thing. They should be home resting, but instead they came in because they’ve got work to do. What a team player. What a hero.

What a jackass.

Because no matter how careful they are keep the environment hygienic, they become a transmission vector for whatever they’re carrying. Which means their coworkers will get sick. Got a coworker with a depressed immune system? Welp, they’re screwed.

There’s a saying about the fine line between heroism and stupidity. This is a fine example.

Stay home. Get well.

If you have the energy for it, maybe keep up with some email just to stay abreast of what to expect when you get back.

But energy is probably in short supply. You simply can’t be productive, efficient, and creative when your head is packed full of mucus. Don’t try; you’ll frustrate and stress yourself out even more.

So: Netflix and sleep. Plenty of fluids. NyQuil is my personal weapon of choice in the battle for my sinuses.

As you start feeling better—and if the work you do allows for it—maybe do some work from home. Maybe crank out some of the tasks that are more like project overhead. Or take advantage of a quiet home to concentrate on some strategic or creative work.

Of course, this isn’t possible for everyone. Point is, stay home until you’re ready—and you’re no longer contagious.

Then, come back and catch up.

There’s almost never anything so urgent that the business will go bankrupt if it doesn’t have your constant attention. This fact is diametrically opposed to the point of view that some managers have. Again, this is a failure of corporate culture.

But I digress: the point is, you’re back, you’re well-rested, and you’re ready to tackle your inbox. You’re operating at peak levels. You can plow through that backlog.

Yes, I know that I can say these things because I’m lucky to have a pretty generous (if unspoken) sick-day policy. Our team works hard and we’re evaluated on what we get done, not the hours we put in. As a result, my stress levels don’t go through the roof at the first sign of a sore throat because I might be getting sick—I just deal with getting better, then get back to work, rather than letting the stress make it worse.

More businesses should follow suit.