In the standard rotation that comes having small children, we enjoyed a few solid healthy, productive weeks then we suddenly all came down with the germs again this week. It’s hard deciding whether its better to have a poorly child, so that at least you’re well enough to work where you can around them (even if that means evenings and weekends) or whether its better if you’re the poorly one so at least the only overnight interruptions are yours, and they’re still in childcare leaving you to manage to complete what you can. This week it was mainly the adults and we’ve been wading though treacle for a week.

What’s your sickness policy?

It was the first time that I realised I would have had the time off if I could. And realistically, I have nice clients – they’re in the charity sector, and they’re good people, I’m sure I could have agreed something with all of them. I think nearly all my contracts also cover ill-health being a reason not to complete work and have the option of drafting someone else in by mutual agreement (I should check, I know). But it was borderline. That kind of poorly where you acknowledge it with clients but you plough on. I couldn’t help but think of each day rate I would miss, or how stressful it would be trying to work out how to make up hours.

Without a shadow of a doubt, if I had had an employment contract with sick leave cover, I would have been at home under a duvet. But instead I took the hugely sustainable approach of deciding I could probably carry on, even if it would take a lot of over-the-counter-meds, coffee, biscuits and general grumbling. I think it was also in part with the extra faff of having to talk it through and agree what would happen with each client. Somehow it was easier to quietly suffer and just make it through the week.

Robot Versus Human

I also just struggled with the customer service bit of it. I think I’m keen to be that reliable delivery partner for all clients, and taking time out feels a deviation from that (however needed). There seems to have been a lot of sickness absence across clients and I’d felt proud to be a constant through it. Stupid, admittedly, since I am definitely not a robot, but true.

Another important factor I think is that scarcity mindset that seems so omnipresent for me still. That niggle that it might all end next month and its all been a lovely but short-lived experiment and there’s no alternative but to go back to the rat-race of employment. I wonder how differently I might approach the same illness if I’m still freelancing in a year or a few.

Strengthening the Safety Nets

So the work carried on, thankfully with the children still in childcare so at least my focus could just be on work when it needed to be. With my brain not firing completely on all cylinders, it took extra effort to complete the ordinary. The big lessons for me were ensuring my contracts do all cover the eventuality of ill-health so there’s no grey area of what I can do, also the possibility of drafting a freelance contact/colleague in to cover work if it’s really significant. It also made me reflect that I’m glad I have critical illness cover alongside life insurance. While it comes with lots of conditions around particular diagnoses, it feels that there’s some safety net should I ever become more seriously ill. There’s also the possibility of income protection that I’m adding to my new year to-do list, to explore how relevant and useful it might be when you’re self-employed.

For now, however, the focus is on clinging on to the weekend and hoping for some respite from the germs so that next week feels more manageable.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash