When we’re sick or ill, sometimes we just power through it. Sometimes we know it’s time to just power down and rest for a bit.
Cold, flu and general illness season is upon us. Three out of four of the estimators I work with have been out sick this week. Somehow, I am the only one that hasn’t gone down. Several family members are down with various illnesses, as well. Against the advice of my wife, I generally just try to power through whatever illness I have. While it’s not always smart, I’ve managed to stay mostly productive even when I don’t feel well. Back in my PhD school days, I powered through a regular construction day and then took a proctored final exam in the evening while rocking strep throat. On different occasions, I’ve had to power down for a day when I had pneumonia and spent a week in the hospital on IV antibiotics after I got a weird elbow infection.
On a less intelligent day, I didn’t feel right to start the day but still drove three hours to a project on a mine site, attended a meeting, did some stuff on site, drove three hours back to the office on the other side of town from my house, only to realize something was 100% not right, then drove the hour back towards my house. Almost home, I was pretty sure I was going to die from the infection or maybe even from the pain caused by the infection. Against the advice of my inner tough guy, I stopped at a hospital near my house. It hurt so bad to walk that I debated walking backwards, side shuffling or even crawling on the egg frying hot (110 degrees in July in Phoenix) pavement to get into the hospital. Painful lessons stick with most people and this one stuck with me. I learned that sore throats and coughs are one thing but I should take pain and discomfort in other areas a little more seriously.
If you’re default mode is to power through any and everything, you might actually be slightly dumb and you better be tough. In the most caring way possible, my wife has pointed this fact out to me on more than one occasion. Almost since his birth, I’ve regularly told my now four year old son, “If you’re gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough,” whenever he’s hurt himself doing toddler and pre-k boy stuff. Interestingly, I’ve rarely had to tell my daughters anything along those lines.
So, as construction pros who are trying to balance career success with personal choices and fulfillment, we have to know enough about ourselves to know when to power through an illness and when we should power down for at least a day or two. We also need to be understanding and supportive of coworkers who power down during an illness. I am still learning how to take care of myself and how to support sick coworkers.
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