Ahhh…nothing feels quite as good as calling in sick to work does it? Unless you actually are sick, that is. But really, that doesn’t happen too often.
There are two types of days that are the best to call in sick. Either the days when you have a lot of stuff to do (including meetings) or those when you have nothing to do. If you choose a day with meetings, conference calls, etc., then you can delay interaction with people which may lead to questioning on what you have been working on. If its a once weekly team meeting, even better. It’s all about making it one more day. If you have nothing to do, then you can feel a little less guilty about watching television at home in your underwear.
Here are some tips for calling in sick:
- Establish early on in your job that you often have allergies. Sniff and blow your nose when walking past your coworker’s work areas. In addition to setting you up for a sick day sometime soon, people may keep their distance so they don’t get sneezed upon.
- Call your manager’s work phone early in the morning, before he gets in the office. Leave a message in a tired, scratchy voice saying you’re going to have to use a sick day and to give you call if they need anything. Turn off your phone.
- Try not to go out in public too much, lest you run into somebody on a vacation. If you must go out, dress sick…wild hair, half tied pajama pants, shower slippers, and plenty of tissues.
- If you’re not going with allergies, have something that doesn’t require many questions and people don’t want to discuss. Might I suggest…um…explosive diarrhea?
- When you return to the office, lay low in your cube. People may still think you’re out sick if you don’t advertise your returned presence.
