Preventing illness – knowing when to take a break
As we enter autumn and winter, many of us will get our annual cold. With many of us still working from home, it’s interesting to look at how employees and employers cope when faced with the challenge of ‘being off work’ due to illness, when you are already working from home. To begin with, how can you be ‘not at work’ when you live there? If you don’t turn your computer on, are you not at work? If you don’t walk into your office space at home, are you not at work? It’s a minefield that warrants some clarification for everyone concerned.
All being well
With the widespread adoption of working from home if you are able to, there has been an increased level of honesty and trust introduced into the conversation. You know in yourself when you’re not firing on all cylinders and meeting your usual standards of productivity. But conveying that to your employer is not always as simple as it sounds.
There are a multitude of ailments that can impact you – particularly in the current economic and social climate – and not all of these are readily apparent. They can be mental health issues, such as anxiety and stress, which are more difficult to identify, articulate into symptoms, and then treat. Also, one illness can feed into another, so stress can lead to anxiety, which can lead to depression, for example.
Having time to yourself
We’ve already looked in earlier articles at making sure that you and your employees are not working without respite. It’s important to acknowledge the necessity for taking a holiday, ‘a week off’, even if you’re just day-tripping in the car or doing some DIY around the house. It’s a switch-off from work and a mental ‘change of scene’ – a break from working life. Mental health and wellbeing are perhaps even more important in the present time. And acknowledging some time to yourself will allow you recharge your batteries – this will help with both your physical and mental health.
It’s equally important that if you are unwell, you should recognise the fact and take the time off you need to get better. It’s one thing working through a cold from the comfort of your home. But if you suffer an illness with flu or something more serious, then you shouldn’t be trying to get that report out from your sickbed, or be constantly checking your emails. You will get better quicker if you take the time you need to get on top of your symptoms and seek out treatment for them where necessary.
People talk about the everyday stress and anxiety, as well as the physical strains of the last 18 months. Any job has all the usual stresses of meeting deadlines, managing workloads and working efficiently. To do it properly you need to make sure that everyone, from managers to staff, are able to be at their best. That means knowing when to step back for a moment and take a break. The benefits will be felt for all concerned in the long-term.
