Poll: Compared to your regular workload, how much do you work when you are sick with an ordinary cold? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Compared to your regular workload, how much do you work when you are sick with an ordinary cold?".
View the poll results »
| | | | | As much as usual | Nov 7, 2015 |
I’m lucky in that I’m not very prone to colds and when I get one it’s usually very mild, so I don’t feel the need to work less than usual…
| | | | Michael Harris 
Germany
Local time: 03:55
Member (2006)
German to English
Depending on how I feel, I either take a day off and sleep whatever it is off, work at half steam, or carry on as usual.
The children had a couple of colds over the past few months that they decided to share with me, but taking the one day off did me a lot better than draging it through over a week.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 03:55
Spanish to English
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| Business as usual | Nov 7, 2015 |
IMHO, to a normally healthy person, the common "cold" is no big deal unless you make it one. There are several patent remedies to alleviate the symptoms, for example Frenadol or Grippal in Spain, Lemsip or similar in UK...
In fact, I kept on working from my hospìtal bed after an op for a compound wrist facture, and throughout an 18-month long course of chemo at more or less my usual workrate/load.
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| Am I a self-indulgent wimp? | Nov 7, 2015 |
No, I try to be a responsible and professional adult. Encouraged, of course, by the fact that I am self-employed.
Edited to add second sentence.
[Edited at 2015-11-07 10:25 GMT]
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An ordinary cold does not change my normal regular daily workload.
If a cold does not prevent me from driving my kids to school, picking them up from school, it doesn't change my ordinary workload.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 21:55
English to Spanish
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| A cold is a cold | Nov 7, 2015 |
Some people might come down with flu and they call it a common cold. Other people, like me, often have had a bad case of allergies and think it's a cold, a stuffy nose blossoming into a nasty flu.
The phrase “listen to your body” comes to mind. In some cultures and countries, men can't be seen going less active or taking a day off because of a cold or a case of flu, because it's not manly. In many more places, men and women who are sick with a common cold (or worse, with ... See more Some people might come down with flu and they call it a common cold. Other people, like me, often have had a bad case of allergies and think it's a cold, a stuffy nose blossoming into a nasty flu.
The phrase “listen to your body” comes to mind. In some cultures and countries, men can't be seen going less active or taking a day off because of a cold or a case of flu, because it's not manly. In many more places, men and women who are sick with a common cold (or worse, with some specialized kind of flu or other illness masking as a common cold) refuse to take it slow, take it easy, go to the doctor or even take medication because they've been raised to be martyr parents or workers.
Even some medications cause symptoms similar to the common cold. Consult your personal physician. Other restrictions may apply. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sabrina Bruna
Italy
Local time: 03:55
Member (2013)
English to Italian
+ ...
An ordinary cold doesn't influence in any way my workload, but a fever most certainly than not sticks me to my bed for few hours, at least until the aspirin I usually take to treat it hasn't shown its effect yet.
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Michael Harris wrote:
Depending on how I feel, I either take a day off and sleep whatever it is off, work at half steam, or carry on as usual.
The children had a couple of colds over the past few months that they decided to share with me, but taking the one day off did me a lot better than draging it through over a week.
The symptom-blocking meds tend to knock me out and/or give me palpitations, so whether I take them or not I will be slightly under par for the first couple of days. If I have a full workload, I'll work just as much as usual, trying to stick to the less challenging jobs; if there's a bit of slack I'll use it to have an afternoon nap, which I find really helps to clear my head when I have a cold.
Added on: I forgot to mention that though I don't get too many colds, when I do get one it's the full works.
[Edited at 2015-11-07 17:15 GMT]
| | | | | I don't get sick often | Nov 7, 2015 |
but if it's just a run of the mill cold, I work as much as I can. If i'm going to sit at home I may as well work! but if it's really bad and I can't concentrate, i'll turn down jobs if I think it's too much and I don't want to do a second rate job.
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 22:55
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| A regular cold... | Nov 7, 2015 |
...is absolutely no excuse for any worker to reduce their workload. A worse disease maybe. But I hate people who miss a day of work and show up next morning or two days later with a doctor's statement for a simple cold or a "strong" headache. I have dismissed a few reports for doing that more than once. It's a big excuse for those who have no professional commitment.
If your cold includes fever, strongly clogged nose, pain all over the body, etc., then it's a different story. You mu... See more ...is absolutely no excuse for any worker to reduce their workload. A worse disease maybe. But I hate people who miss a day of work and show up next morning or two days later with a doctor's statement for a simple cold or a "strong" headache. I have dismissed a few reports for doing that more than once. It's a big excuse for those who have no professional commitment.
If your cold includes fever, strongly clogged nose, pain all over the body, etc., then it's a different story. You must stay in bed for a while to recover. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 21:55
English to Spanish
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| Self-reported illnesses | Nov 7, 2015 |
Mario Freitas wrote:
...is absolutely no excuse for any worker to reduce their workload. A worse disease maybe. But I hate people who miss a day of work and show up next morning or two days later with a doctor's statement for a simple cold or a "strong" headache. I have dismissed a few reports for doing that more than once. It's a big excuse for those who have no professional commitment.
If your cold includes fever, strongly clogged nose, pain all over the body, etc., then it's a different story. You must stay in bed for a while to recover.
In medicine, a condition (illness of some sort) that a physician cannot find an organic cause for is called an idiopatic condition: the patient feels pain or discomfort, even other symptoms, but the doctor can't find anything wrong with the patient.
I fail to see why the dogmatic, black-and-white stance on being sick with a cold, migraine or similar ailment for missing work or working less. It sounds harsh, uncaring and, honestly, less than knowing. Only a licensed physician is in a position to diagnose a disease, illness or condition, not you, not me.
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| What it takes | Nov 8, 2015 |
I tend to work as much as necessary to meet my commitments, sick or not, unless I am truly incapacitated. On the other hand, because I work for myself and my workload varies, if I don't have anything in particular to do I can stay in bed at the mere hint of a sniffle.
Because I work from home, continuing to work when sick doesn't pose any health risk to others. Going into work when sick is no virtue if you are just spreading the problem. Your ordinary cold could be someone else's se... See more I tend to work as much as necessary to meet my commitments, sick or not, unless I am truly incapacitated. On the other hand, because I work for myself and my workload varies, if I don't have anything in particular to do I can stay in bed at the mere hint of a sniffle.
Because I work from home, continuing to work when sick doesn't pose any health risk to others. Going into work when sick is no virtue if you are just spreading the problem. Your ordinary cold could be someone else's serious illness, and your own ordinary cold could become your own serious illness if you don't look after yourself properly. Or is that the idea? To push yourself until you have no choice but to take time off? Just because you can choose to continue to work or not, it doesn't mean choosing not to work is a weak choice.
Melissa ▲ Collapse
| | | | | A bit less than usual | Nov 8, 2015 |
I rarely get sick, but if I do, I'm usually so tired that I can't put in a full day's work. Of course, it depends how sick we're talking about.
I had major surgery last week and turned in a large translation 3 days later. That was a mistake. I should have taken things my slowly. I'm paying for it now.
I've noticed that I've rarely had colds since I stopped working in a large organization where parents would catch their children's colds and bring them to the office. That... See more I rarely get sick, but if I do, I'm usually so tired that I can't put in a full day's work. Of course, it depends how sick we're talking about.
I had major surgery last week and turned in a large translation 3 days later. That was a mistake. I should have taken things my slowly. I'm paying for it now.
I've noticed that I've rarely had colds since I stopped working in a large organization where parents would catch their children's colds and bring them to the office. That's yet another advantage of freelancing. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 22:55
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| You have no idea... | Nov 9, 2015 |
Mario Chavez wrote: Mario Freitas wrote:
...is absolutely no excuse for any worker to reduce their workload. A worse disease maybe. But I hate people who miss a day of work and show up next morning or two days later with a doctor's statement for a simple cold or a "strong" headache. I have dismissed a few reports for doing that more than once. It's a big excuse for those who have no professional commitment.
If your cold includes fever, strongly clogged nose, pain all over the body, etc., then it's a different story. You must stay in bed for a while to recover.
In medicine, a condition (illness of some sort) that a physician cannot find an organic cause for is called an idiopatic condition: the patient feels pain or discomfort, even other symptoms, but the doctor can't find anything wrong with the patient. I fail to see why the dogmatic, black-and-white stance on being sick with a cold, migraine or similar ailment for missing work or working less. It sounds harsh, uncaring and, honestly, less than knowing. Only a licensed physician is in a position to diagnose a disease, illness or condition, not you, not me.
Mario,
I just hope you never hold a managing position in a third world country. You have no idea how easy it is to get a doctor's statement not to work, and how people "skip" working days for a simple "cold". My opinion is based on that experience. I can assure you 75% of my reports who skipped a day or two of work probably went shopping or partying, because they really had no pathological condition that could hinder their work, yet they got a medical statement not to work. This is standard in Brazil, and managers around here are well aware of this. Of course, in different countries you have different situations. So please reconsider my opinion as specifically for my country.
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