The Lure of "Grin & Bear It": Why Entrepreneurs Should Take "PTO"

On Monday, I did something hard. I called in sick. To myself. Here’s why that’s “newsworthy”.

It’s not newsworthy because I rarely get sick (although true). It’s not newsworthy because allergy season is starting sooner and hitting harder (also true, see here…I should have worn a mask when I mowed the lawn).

It’s newsworthy because I’m self-employed. And the self-employed often struggle to step away from their businesses for so many reasons, including when they are “under the weather”. For all the benefits (like autonomy, and living their purpose) entrepreneurs can experience fear related to the stressors of developing, running, and expanding their businesses (de Mol et al., 2016; Williamson et al., 2021).

Put simply, they might be like one entrepreneur I spoke with who is in the habit of answering calls/texts/Slack/IMs in the bathroom, over dinner, at family gatherings, etc. for fear of missing a potential client. Because that potential client is one more day the lights stay on.

The temptation when sick, whether from an allergy onslaught or the flu, is to work through it. This is true for employees and the self-employed (WEF, 2020). But from personal and professional experience, the temptation is greater for the self-employed because there is no PTO. There’s only TO…Or so you think.

The Costs of No PTO

Presenteeism costs US firms an estimated $226 billion per year. That’s not surprising when you think about it. Do you do your best when you feel crappy? Can you focus? Do you have the energy to get through the day or the week? Probably not.

Research shows that presenteeism arising from working when sick costs businesses more than if the individual simply took a sick day to recover (Hemp, 2004; Miraglia & Kinman, 2017).

Presenteeism is not only a threat to the here and now, it’s a threat to your long-term well-being. According to Williamson et al. (2021), there is “evidence that working while sick is a risk factor for future adverse health events, including cardiovascular disease and mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. In turn, this increases the risk of subsequent absenteeism as recovery will be threatened and health decline accelerated.”

So going back to my sick day. Knowing the above, and also let’s face it I am a health & wellness coach for business owners…When I realized my allergy-induced cold was preventing me from focusing and getting much of anything done, I took the rest of the day off. I was in bed by 5:30, asleep by maybe 6:30 (The Diplomat is a great new show), and woke up the next day back to about 90%.

There was no way I would have been able to bounce back so quickly if I had pushed through. I would probably have spent Tuesday redoing Monday’s work, and that would have affected client care and client prospecting, and derailed the rest of the week.

What to Do

When you start your own business, no one hands you a Benefits Sheet stating the number of PTO hours you have. You need to make one for yourself. Factor in not only the vacation time you want to take but the time you might need for the common cold or allergy season, doctor’s visits, or hell just time to enjoy the benefits of being self-employed.

Because if you want your business to be sustainable, you have to be sustainable. Investing in yourself is investing in your business. As you go, so goes your business.

References

Working When Sick Harms You And Your Employer. Here's How | World Economic Forum https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/working-when-sick-harms-you-and-business/

Measuring Health-Related Productivity Loss - PMC https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3128441/

The hidden costs of working when sick | BPS https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/hidden-costs-working-when-sick

Presenteeism: At Work—But Out of It https://hbr.org/2004/10/presenteeism-at-work-but-out-of-it

Predicting Entrepreneurial Burnout in a Moderated Mediated Model of Job Fit - de Mol - 2018 - Journal of Small Business Management - Wiley Online Library

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jsbm.12275

Williamson et al. (2021) DOI: 10. 1177/ 1042 2587 2110 06431