The other day, I had difficulty making a decision about whether to tough it out at work or take a sick day. I asked for opinions on whether I should self-flagellate myself some more or give self a break. I got many suggestions and some expressions of “if you figure it out, tell me”. Judah had one of the best ones, which is to remember that if what’s guiding your decision is Fear or Guilt, it’s probably not a good thing. Best to go against that, and just say “Grace”.
I said “Grace” a whole freaking lot. Gracegracegracegracefreakingrace. But it did help. I also made up a flowchart. When you see it spelled out, it tends to make things a little bit easier. Observe. (Click to enlarge)
Look how businessey it looks!
Have you got any pressing decisions to make? Plug it into a flow chart! Unless it’s like whether to leave a burning building or not. Then get the heck out. You might yell “Grace” while you’re doing it, just in case.
aliceatwonderland 
Nice flow chart ya got. 😉
Thanks! I made it myself!
My chart would have to have an option for “Did your coworker already call in an hour ahead of you?”–if yes, then too bad. Work day it is.
(“Grace” makes me think of the Christmas Vacation movie first 🙂 )
This is why you have to call in as early as possible. Like the previous day if you can.
This is where having your day scheduled to start at 7 when everyone else starts at 8 is a big advantage. But I don’t usually care – we start the year with 1040 hours of sick time, so unless you die, you probably won’t use all of it anyway.
No wonder I can never make decisions! No flowchart!
Pie charts are helpful too. Look what they did for Ross Perot!
Pie chart, now I’m hungry.
It could help you decide what type of pie to eat.
Ok that was creepy – my daughters oversized Pinkie Pie pony just started singing, did it think I was going to add it as an option to the chart?
Haha! Mmmm pinkie pie! Pie made with bits of rainbow pony!
HAHAHA! I think we’ve got enough of them to make a few pony pies! My Little Barber of Equestria 😉
Stay home – that’s what those days are for!
I wish I had more of them! Also, how come “sleepy” can’t be a good excuse to miss work?
Oh it can be! Mental Health Day is totally legit. Sometimes you just need to stay in bed for the day.
So did you go to work or not? Just wondering which path on the flow chart you took!
Wait, the weight of the world doesn’t rest of every decision you make? When did this happen!?
My company has pretty much made my decision for me in these situations. They offer bare bones vacation and sick time and allow remote work only in the most extreme cases. That sounds like a company that wants sick employees to come in. Sure, sucks for my co-workers, but I want to use my limited time off when I’m feeling good!
My company allows me to work from home when I sick (and it’s exactly what I’m doing today). Is that very generous or very devious of them? – I don’t know, too sick to tell.
It’s so hard for me to call in sick. Part of the problem is that i get up so early, it’s all automatic: shower, eat, drive to work,… I don’t wake up enough to realize that I don’t feel well until I’m already at work and an hour into my day. At that point I might as well stay, right? And then the mornings I do actually feel sick when my alarm goes off I have the great debate about “How sick am I, really?” Do I feel worse than I did the last time I stayed home? Can I justify making the call? Do I have anything at work I need to be there for? And then it’s 30 minutes later and I’m in the car on my way in. Whoops.
This is why you need that handy flowchart, dj. It makes decisions for you!
I think my flowchart would be convoluted and hard to follow. I’d probably end up in an infinite loop like Sheldon trying to make friends.
I hope you stayed home. I relish sick days. Heck, I even had two operations so I could have sick days.
Stay home in bed, or don’t get up? Then either way, you have the right answer.
Wait — I thought you weren’t supposed to cry “Grace” in a burning theater.
Yup. I saw it.
Good.
Funny! Last year, I had a big plan to do a whole series of flow charts. Now I don’t have to. Thanks!
Me taking a sick day rests on three things:
– Am I deathly ill?
– Are the waves good for surfing?
– Is there a concert I have to get to?
Funnily enough, those are the same questions my boss asks me when I call in sick…