How do self-employed people manage sickness with their workload?
January 5, 2016 2:24 PM Subscribe
I've worked for myself (consultant; home office) for the last two years and I'm still trying to figure out how to deal with illness. If I don't work, I don't get paid, but if I don't take a break, I won't get better. I struggle to figure out what is "coddling myself" and what is restorative rest -- and how to ease back into the routine when I'm on the mend but not at 100%. If you're self-employed, what do you do when you're sick?
Specifically interested in:
- What do you do when you feel you're coming down with something (do you rest then? Rearrange work?)
- What about when you're full-on sick (take the whole day(s) off? Do only bare minimum and then go off the grid?)
- How do you regain your routine and schedule when you're maybe at 50%? I find this to be the most challenging -- getting back my hard-won routine and knowing when to push myself and when to rest.
Do you estimate the number of days you'll be sick so you can think ahead for earning and contracts?
Bonus if you have kids (I don't yet but might at some point) in the mix.
Specifically interested in:
- What do you do when you feel you're coming down with something (do you rest then? Rearrange work?)
- What about when you're full-on sick (take the whole day(s) off? Do only bare minimum and then go off the grid?)
- How do you regain your routine and schedule when you're maybe at 50%? I find this to be the most challenging -- getting back my hard-won routine and knowing when to push myself and when to rest.
Do you estimate the number of days you'll be sick so you can think ahead for earning and contracts?
Bonus if you have kids (I don't yet but might at some point) in the mix.
I do the minimum, and often feel okay enough to continue slogging through at that point. If not, or if I can't even manage the minimum, then I call it a day and trust there will be others. Downtime definitely needs to be considered when planning what work to take on. I don't estimate sick days per se but do keep the necessity of rest in mind when scheduling.
posted by teremala at 2:39 PM on January 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by teremala at 2:39 PM on January 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
Ideally, you construct your business to afford yourself built-in sick days, work weeks that don't stretch past 40 hours, vacations, and benefits. Then, if you're feeling run-down or are getting sick you can do the minimum needed to avert disaster and then go rest. There will be times when you absolutely need to meet a deadline or prevent a disaster, and then you do the minimum needed, and then go back to resting (turn phone ringer off, out-of-office responder, etc).
Trying to muscle through when you're sick or not allowing enough time to recover is just a recipe for being sicker for longer than you need to be. Being able to identify when you're run-down and starting to get sick is a valuable skill and will help you to have a less severe sickness (in some cases) and recover faster if you take the situation seriously and rest. Think of it as a beneficial skill and not coddling yourself. Trying to tough-out being sick is such a bad approach, whether you're working for yourself at home, or dragging yourself into the workplace to share your bugs with all of your colleagues. Plus, when you're sick and run down, you're inefficient and more prone to errors.
Building-in timing and money cushions will help you to make room for sick days and vacation days without creating a catastrophe with income or deadlines. This approach is what makes your business sustainable in the long-run.
posted by quince at 2:41 PM on January 5, 2016 [8 favorites]
Trying to muscle through when you're sick or not allowing enough time to recover is just a recipe for being sicker for longer than you need to be. Being able to identify when you're run-down and starting to get sick is a valuable skill and will help you to have a less severe sickness (in some cases) and recover faster if you take the situation seriously and rest. Think of it as a beneficial skill and not coddling yourself. Trying to tough-out being sick is such a bad approach, whether you're working for yourself at home, or dragging yourself into the workplace to share your bugs with all of your colleagues. Plus, when you're sick and run down, you're inefficient and more prone to errors.
Building-in timing and money cushions will help you to make room for sick days and vacation days without creating a catastrophe with income or deadlines. This approach is what makes your business sustainable in the long-run.
posted by quince at 2:41 PM on January 5, 2016 [8 favorites]
I am not self-employed but can relate as I don't get a set number of official sick days (my company is < 50 employees and I'm in Ontario). It makes self care and boundaries/planning really important.
Generally I try to stay healthy as a strategy against preventing illness, in that I try to get up and go to bed at the same time each day, try to eat fairly well, and I try to make time every day for something nourishing like a bath or meditating or yoga. I took a second big project on this fall, and I stopped cooking and started eating out more, I had to travel, and I missed sleep and I'm on cold
When I feel a cold coming I try to drink lots of herbal tea (whatever I feel like), with honey, and get to bed by or before 9pm. I take turmeric and zinc and vitamin c. I try to eat less refined sugar and pay for healthy take out as needed (a local place makes hot and sour thai soup that is full of good mushrooms and veggies and spices). These things help somewhat. If I have to work and my face is stuffed up (and neti pot/hot shower) doesn't do much, I take a cold pill so I can sort of breath (and thus think) a bit better. I do the bare minimum I need to do for work (like answering/sending emails every couple of hours if I'm at home) so that I'm not falling too far behind or feeling bad for taking time off or slowing projects down. I take a cold pill that's made for night-time if I'm unable to sleep and can't show up sleep deprived to a meeting. I find I can usually do more than I think I can if I'm able to breathe, when I can't breathe it's a struggle. But if I'm just feeling yucky if I have a hot shower, have a nice tea, and get snuggled up with my laptop I can often get farther than I thought I could (and then take a nap). Ideally though when you get sick, you rest, and you rest until you feel ready to get back to work.
I have a child and all I can say is that it sucks when you're both sick, and there will be more illnesses because they bring everything from school. So having a "sick routine" where you know what you need from the drugstore (e.g. kid's tylenol for them, cough syrup/cold pills, advil etc.) and what foods you can all eat on hand can help you feel like you have things under control and can go into survival mode more easily.
posted by lafemma at 3:51 PM on January 5, 2016
Generally I try to stay healthy as a strategy against preventing illness, in that I try to get up and go to bed at the same time each day, try to eat fairly well, and I try to make time every day for something nourishing like a bath or meditating or yoga. I took a second big project on this fall, and I stopped cooking and started eating out more, I had to travel, and I missed sleep and I'm on cold
When I feel a cold coming I try to drink lots of herbal tea (whatever I feel like), with honey, and get to bed by or before 9pm. I take turmeric and zinc and vitamin c. I try to eat less refined sugar and pay for healthy take out as needed (a local place makes hot and sour thai soup that is full of good mushrooms and veggies and spices). These things help somewhat. If I have to work and my face is stuffed up (and neti pot/hot shower) doesn't do much, I take a cold pill so I can sort of breath (and thus think) a bit better. I do the bare minimum I need to do for work (like answering/sending emails every couple of hours if I'm at home) so that I'm not falling too far behind or feeling bad for taking time off or slowing projects down. I take a cold pill that's made for night-time if I'm unable to sleep and can't show up sleep deprived to a meeting. I find I can usually do more than I think I can if I'm able to breathe, when I can't breathe it's a struggle. But if I'm just feeling yucky if I have a hot shower, have a nice tea, and get snuggled up with my laptop I can often get farther than I thought I could (and then take a nap). Ideally though when you get sick, you rest, and you rest until you feel ready to get back to work.
I have a child and all I can say is that it sucks when you're both sick, and there will be more illnesses because they bring everything from school. So having a "sick routine" where you know what you need from the drugstore (e.g. kid's tylenol for them, cough syrup/cold pills, advil etc.) and what foods you can all eat on hand can help you feel like you have things under control and can go into survival mode more easily.
posted by lafemma at 3:51 PM on January 5, 2016
I tell my clients that I'm sick in bed. Unless I'm on a really tight deadline which I have not prepared for (ie, never), I just take the day off. I might return an email or two, and muddle around with my paperwork, but in general, I think I won't do my best work if I'm sick or under the influence of OTC meds.
I work really hard not to let myself get caught in the snares of deadlines I can't meet. If I was really stuck, I'd subcontract with a trusted fellow freelancer.
posted by Ideefixe at 4:42 PM on January 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
I work really hard not to let myself get caught in the snares of deadlines I can't meet. If I was really stuck, I'd subcontract with a trusted fellow freelancer.
posted by Ideefixe at 4:42 PM on January 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
I have a chronic condition. This is why I freelance. It both allows me to take better care of myself than a corporate job and allows me to take time off without being outright fired.
I have learned to not work on client facing stuff when seriously ill. It just damages my reputation. Instead, I use those times for doing "back end" work, like research on assignments and things that will get more work into the pipeline so I can work as much as I want when I feel better. I basically work on positioning when under the weather.
When I am in good shape, I sometimes get work done before lunch. When I am not, I do the absolute minimum until I get lunch into me. After lunch, I am much more likely to be productive.
I have worked on identifying tasks that will move my goals forward if I work on them when I am at half mast, so to speak. In other words, stuff that has some wiggle room for not getting it right immediately. I have also worked on developing the means to check my work/clean my work to catch the mistakes that ratchet up when I am feeling icky.
I know when to throw in the towel and just play Tetris and then sleep, but if I only worked when I felt good, I would never accomplish anything. So I have gotten better at identifying what tasks require a fully functioning brain and what tasks can be done adequately well when I am suboptimal.
I also have just worked really hard on getting healthier. Being self employed gives me latitude that supports that goal.
posted by Michele in California at 4:45 PM on January 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
I have learned to not work on client facing stuff when seriously ill. It just damages my reputation. Instead, I use those times for doing "back end" work, like research on assignments and things that will get more work into the pipeline so I can work as much as I want when I feel better. I basically work on positioning when under the weather.
When I am in good shape, I sometimes get work done before lunch. When I am not, I do the absolute minimum until I get lunch into me. After lunch, I am much more likely to be productive.
I have worked on identifying tasks that will move my goals forward if I work on them when I am at half mast, so to speak. In other words, stuff that has some wiggle room for not getting it right immediately. I have also worked on developing the means to check my work/clean my work to catch the mistakes that ratchet up when I am feeling icky.
I know when to throw in the towel and just play Tetris and then sleep, but if I only worked when I felt good, I would never accomplish anything. So I have gotten better at identifying what tasks require a fully functioning brain and what tasks can be done adequately well when I am suboptimal.
I also have just worked really hard on getting healthier. Being self employed gives me latitude that supports that goal.
posted by Michele in California at 4:45 PM on January 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
The key for me is to simply not overbook myself too far. I know I can work to about 150% capacity for moderate stretches, so I try to only sell 85% - 115% of my time and stay on top of deadlines because you just never know. I even turn work in early when I can. That way I can take a couple of days off when I'm sick (...or have other emergencies crop up, as they do) and make up for it by working a couple of extra evenings and weekends. But if you're already working to your max capacity, there's nothing left in the reserves to draw from when you're in a bind.
When I really seriously can't spare a day off, I try to work through it. Better living through chemistry, Dayquil and tea with honey for a measly cold. But I also find that telling your client what's going on often buys you a lot of time. Never met an editor that didn't respond with sympathy to "I'm so sorry but I was just diagnosed with pneumonia/spent the night in the ER with my kid/lost power in the storm, can I have a little more time?"
posted by Andrhia at 5:40 PM on January 5, 2016 [3 favorites]
When I really seriously can't spare a day off, I try to work through it. Better living through chemistry, Dayquil and tea with honey for a measly cold. But I also find that telling your client what's going on often buys you a lot of time. Never met an editor that didn't respond with sympathy to "I'm so sorry but I was just diagnosed with pneumonia/spent the night in the ER with my kid/lost power in the storm, can I have a little more time?"
posted by Andrhia at 5:40 PM on January 5, 2016 [3 favorites]
Agree with Quince's answer, and have things to add after four years of freelance life:
- I do include sick days or things like emergency vet visits or other issues in planning (and set my rates accordingly), I usually need 3–4 a year or less but obviously kids/pets/SO's can add to this.
- One thing I tried last year that worked great when is to plan for 20 weekdays of work a month (8ish hours a day). Most months have one or two "extra" weekdays, which I consider bonus earnings to cover weeks where I wasn't feeling 100% and put in less hours.
- On sick days I work maybe half a day, but I prioritize sleep above all and give zero fucks about my otherwise consistent schedule that week. If I'm at 50%, I'm fine with working from bed a few days/working on the weekends. I don't worry about resetting my schedule until the next week.
- My mentor taught me it's important to not be too speedy to turn around work, now I do the old-trick of adding a half or full day longer to deadlines when estimating than needed just in case I come down with something. (I always complete the work as soon as I can, I just hang on to it). It's a great way to cushion yourself for sick days and train clients not to breathe down your neck.
- Lastly, do you have any buddies/professional contacts who can help you in a pinch for those clients who you'd prefer not to have to say no to because you're sick? Having a backup is invaluable. (I don't tell my clients if I use my friend's help, it's very rare and I make sure everything is up to par. And...her rate is less than mine, so I still make a small amount.)
posted by the thorn bushes have roses at 8:48 PM on January 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
- I do include sick days or things like emergency vet visits or other issues in planning (and set my rates accordingly), I usually need 3–4 a year or less but obviously kids/pets/SO's can add to this.
- One thing I tried last year that worked great when is to plan for 20 weekdays of work a month (8ish hours a day). Most months have one or two "extra" weekdays, which I consider bonus earnings to cover weeks where I wasn't feeling 100% and put in less hours.
- On sick days I work maybe half a day, but I prioritize sleep above all and give zero fucks about my otherwise consistent schedule that week. If I'm at 50%, I'm fine with working from bed a few days/working on the weekends. I don't worry about resetting my schedule until the next week.
- My mentor taught me it's important to not be too speedy to turn around work, now I do the old-trick of adding a half or full day longer to deadlines when estimating than needed just in case I come down with something. (I always complete the work as soon as I can, I just hang on to it). It's a great way to cushion yourself for sick days and train clients not to breathe down your neck.
- Lastly, do you have any buddies/professional contacts who can help you in a pinch for those clients who you'd prefer not to have to say no to because you're sick? Having a backup is invaluable. (I don't tell my clients if I use my friend's help, it's very rare and I make sure everything is up to par. And...her rate is less than mine, so I still make a small amount.)
posted by the thorn bushes have roses at 8:48 PM on January 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'm a self-employed massage therapist, so obviously the contract part of the question doesn't apply to me, but the "don't work, don't get paid" part does.
If I feel I'm going to give my communicable illness to clients (early stage cold, flu) then I'll take time off. Otherwise, I suck it up, take OTC meds to minimize the symptoms, caffeinate myself well, and power through. I will try to sleep a lot outside work hours, because that's usually the thing that makes me feel better the quickest. But I try to do that on my personal time, not take time off work if possible.
I am really good at masking how I feel, getting the job done, and collapsing in a heap afterwards, but I think that has to do with upbringing and basic personality, and I don't know that it could be explained or taught. I can and have worked full days while having serious allergies, pms, or having gotten absolutely no sleep, or other significant hit to my health.
This stoicness obviously wouldn't work for a chronic debilitating illness like cancer, or any gut problems since I can't be running to the bathroom in the middle of a session. And I'm not saying it's ideal, it's just what I do.
In the past, I've tried things like zinc or vitamin c lozenges when I think I'm coming down with a cold, but it seemed to have zero effect.
I've started taking immune system enhancing mushroom supplements this winter to try to minimize having to deal with this issue. But, as luck would have it, I'm pretty sure I'm coming down with a cold right now. :(
posted by mysterious_stranger at 9:04 PM on January 5, 2016
If I feel I'm going to give my communicable illness to clients (early stage cold, flu) then I'll take time off. Otherwise, I suck it up, take OTC meds to minimize the symptoms, caffeinate myself well, and power through. I will try to sleep a lot outside work hours, because that's usually the thing that makes me feel better the quickest. But I try to do that on my personal time, not take time off work if possible.
I am really good at masking how I feel, getting the job done, and collapsing in a heap afterwards, but I think that has to do with upbringing and basic personality, and I don't know that it could be explained or taught. I can and have worked full days while having serious allergies, pms, or having gotten absolutely no sleep, or other significant hit to my health.
This stoicness obviously wouldn't work for a chronic debilitating illness like cancer, or any gut problems since I can't be running to the bathroom in the middle of a session. And I'm not saying it's ideal, it's just what I do.
In the past, I've tried things like zinc or vitamin c lozenges when I think I'm coming down with a cold, but it seemed to have zero effect.
I've started taking immune system enhancing mushroom supplements this winter to try to minimize having to deal with this issue. But, as luck would have it, I'm pretty sure I'm coming down with a cold right now. :(
posted by mysterious_stranger at 9:04 PM on January 5, 2016
Ran a small company with children.
If you get sick or have a family illness emergency, your income's already reduced. You can't change that. The question is whether you want to get it out of the way and recover quickly or suffer lowered effectiveness chronically (and feel miserable for longer, too.)
If you are in a business where you guarantee availability, you must find another freelancer to cover, hire an employee or have some other fallback plan. Otherwise, you're deceiving your clients. If you're a good delegator/systemizer, you can pay someone less skilled less than you charge, and your income won't take as much of a hit.
If you are in a business where you don't need to always be available, clients will absolutely not mind if you need to postpone appointments/announce lack of availability dates while you recover.
Working 4 quality hours a day and resting the other half is a really effective way to get through something that has you down but not bedridden, and most people won't notice.
posted by michaelh at 8:35 AM on January 6, 2016
If you get sick or have a family illness emergency, your income's already reduced. You can't change that. The question is whether you want to get it out of the way and recover quickly or suffer lowered effectiveness chronically (and feel miserable for longer, too.)
If you are in a business where you guarantee availability, you must find another freelancer to cover, hire an employee or have some other fallback plan. Otherwise, you're deceiving your clients. If you're a good delegator/systemizer, you can pay someone less skilled less than you charge, and your income won't take as much of a hit.
If you are in a business where you don't need to always be available, clients will absolutely not mind if you need to postpone appointments/announce lack of availability dates while you recover.
Working 4 quality hours a day and resting the other half is a really effective way to get through something that has you down but not bedridden, and most people won't notice.
posted by michaelh at 8:35 AM on January 6, 2016
First step is absolutely to mind my health and try to keep from getting sick at all -- the nice thing about freelancing is that I don't sit in an office full of sick people who won't take their sick days. ;)
Second step is to build long-term relationships with clients so that they are more willing to work with me in the case of an illness.
My work is largely sedentary and solitary, so for the most part, I will be able to work through an illness such as a cold or mild infection. Nobody hears me sniffling and coughing through my email, after all. In those cases I just carry on, and prepare to work in the evening or on a weekend if I lose some hours to naps or doctors' appointments. For a current example, it's Wednesday and my partner is coming down a cold, so I am already mentally arranging to work through the coming weekend in case I'm a sneezy mess next week.
I don't have a great plan for something massive like a hospitalization; I'm lucky to have clients who know me and trust me, so I am hopeful that for the most part whoever I'd be working with during an emergency would be happy to figure out workarounds with me. That's kind of an industry-specific situation though, I know.
My best plan for a massive illness is a massive savings account, frankly. If I had to be out of commission for a month, I would be able to absorb it. If I came down with a serious cancer or similar illness, though, I'd be wiped out in a week (which I just consider the American Condition at this point; I should probably look into disability insurance).
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:40 AM on January 6, 2016
Second step is to build long-term relationships with clients so that they are more willing to work with me in the case of an illness.
My work is largely sedentary and solitary, so for the most part, I will be able to work through an illness such as a cold or mild infection. Nobody hears me sniffling and coughing through my email, after all. In those cases I just carry on, and prepare to work in the evening or on a weekend if I lose some hours to naps or doctors' appointments. For a current example, it's Wednesday and my partner is coming down a cold, so I am already mentally arranging to work through the coming weekend in case I'm a sneezy mess next week.
I don't have a great plan for something massive like a hospitalization; I'm lucky to have clients who know me and trust me, so I am hopeful that for the most part whoever I'd be working with during an emergency would be happy to figure out workarounds with me. That's kind of an industry-specific situation though, I know.
My best plan for a massive illness is a massive savings account, frankly. If I had to be out of commission for a month, I would be able to absorb it. If I came down with a serious cancer or similar illness, though, I'd be wiped out in a week (which I just consider the American Condition at this point; I should probably look into disability insurance).
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:40 AM on January 6, 2016
Get as much sleep as you can, I have a sofa at my shop where I can take a nap when I feel like it. I will often just take a nap and wait out traffic after work.
Get as much good rest at night as you can.
posted by boilermonster at 9:19 AM on January 6, 2016
Get as much good rest at night as you can.
posted by boilermonster at 9:19 AM on January 6, 2016
One thing I tried last year that worked great when is to plan for 20 weekdays of work a month (8ish hours a day).
At some point, I crunched some numbers and came up with basically this same formula: That if I want to have a realistic hope of hitting some kind of income number, it needs to be a number achievable in 20 days a month. If you are going to have weekends and evenings and sick days, you need to figure out how to hit your income goals with that kind of schedule in mind. Planning to work, say, 6 days/week winds up being not sustainable over the long haul.
My mentor taught me it's important to not be too speedy to turn around work
Seconding this.
Also, sort of inadvertently, I am finding that where clients want work they can't get from just anybody, I have more latitude for getting back to them. I have uncommon domain knowledge in Subject A and uncommon domain knowledge in Subject B. I have less competition for things requiring knowledge in either of those subjects.
But I have one client who needs stuff done that requires knowledge of both Subject A and Subject B. They periodically dump a small pile of work on me and I sometimes can get it all back to them in about 3 or 4 days and I sometimes need more like a week or so. So far, they haven't said one word to me when I have taken a little longer. I suspect I currently have zero competition. I suspect they have not found anyone else who can do quality work for this niche thing.
So I am starting to make more of an effort to consciously carve out a niche. It also generally pays better than stuff you can get almost anyone to do.
posted by Michele in California at 2:06 PM on January 6, 2016 [2 favorites]
At some point, I crunched some numbers and came up with basically this same formula: That if I want to have a realistic hope of hitting some kind of income number, it needs to be a number achievable in 20 days a month. If you are going to have weekends and evenings and sick days, you need to figure out how to hit your income goals with that kind of schedule in mind. Planning to work, say, 6 days/week winds up being not sustainable over the long haul.
My mentor taught me it's important to not be too speedy to turn around work
Seconding this.
Also, sort of inadvertently, I am finding that where clients want work they can't get from just anybody, I have more latitude for getting back to them. I have uncommon domain knowledge in Subject A and uncommon domain knowledge in Subject B. I have less competition for things requiring knowledge in either of those subjects.
But I have one client who needs stuff done that requires knowledge of both Subject A and Subject B. They periodically dump a small pile of work on me and I sometimes can get it all back to them in about 3 or 4 days and I sometimes need more like a week or so. So far, they haven't said one word to me when I have taken a little longer. I suspect I currently have zero competition. I suspect they have not found anyone else who can do quality work for this niche thing.
So I am starting to make more of an effort to consciously carve out a niche. It also generally pays better than stuff you can get almost anyone to do.
posted by Michele in California at 2:06 PM on January 6, 2016 [2 favorites]
If I don't work, I don't get paid, but if I don't take a break, I won't get better
Well this is about the simplest sort of self employed sickness problem one can have. This is the same issue faced by many people with an employer who don't have any sick days. It doesn't sound like you have any special problems because of being self employed.
Where it gets really tricky is if you have certain things that take relatively small amounts of time but will have a huge impact on your income for the year. If you have a business with a lot of seasonal income, or event-based income, taking say 3 days off at the wrong time can cut out a good portion of the year's income or even impact future business. If you have a bad cold or even the flu, sometimes you just have to push through even if you are really really sick, because the week of rest you would need later is cheaper than the day of rest you would really like to have right then.
If you have employees or colleagues you are working with, trying to make yourself at least somewhat replaceable, even if they can't really carry the day, will be helpful if you are sick.
If you are able to simply take a break without it impacting whether you will get business in the future, and it's simply a matter of getting paid a little bit less that week, you need to account for this in your budgeting. You need an emergency fund in case you have a bad cold or flu, or hurt your hand and can't type. You might need to cut back on household expenses, find more work, or raise your rates.
If you are basing your household budget, or the rates you charge, on never having any sick days -- you need to change that.
posted by yohko at 12:18 PM on January 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Well this is about the simplest sort of self employed sickness problem one can have. This is the same issue faced by many people with an employer who don't have any sick days. It doesn't sound like you have any special problems because of being self employed.
Where it gets really tricky is if you have certain things that take relatively small amounts of time but will have a huge impact on your income for the year. If you have a business with a lot of seasonal income, or event-based income, taking say 3 days off at the wrong time can cut out a good portion of the year's income or even impact future business. If you have a bad cold or even the flu, sometimes you just have to push through even if you are really really sick, because the week of rest you would need later is cheaper than the day of rest you would really like to have right then.
If you have employees or colleagues you are working with, trying to make yourself at least somewhat replaceable, even if they can't really carry the day, will be helpful if you are sick.
If you are able to simply take a break without it impacting whether you will get business in the future, and it's simply a matter of getting paid a little bit less that week, you need to account for this in your budgeting. You need an emergency fund in case you have a bad cold or flu, or hurt your hand and can't type. You might need to cut back on household expenses, find more work, or raise your rates.
If you are basing your household budget, or the rates you charge, on never having any sick days -- you need to change that.
posted by yohko at 12:18 PM on January 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
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posted by telegraph at 2:38 PM on January 5, 2016 [2 favorites]