It may be tempting to call in sick to work after a long night out, but resist the urge! You might be wondering: what’s the big deal if I take a day off? I get paid vacation days and sick days, so why not use them? Here are some reasons why missing work is harmful and ultimately not worth it – unless you’re sick.

When you’re trying to decide whether or not taking a sick day is worth it, consider these five factors:

You will fall behind one day at work.

While you’re out of the office on your mental health day, don’t expect anyone to be checking work emails. If you want to be productive, take the day off and use that time at home to relax–you won’t make up for a lost time in the office. Wasting time feeling guilty will only set you back, so go ahead and use that Mental Health Day as an excuse to enjoy some much-needed rest!

It’s unprofessional to take time off.

When you take unscheduled time off, it sends the message to your colleagues that you’re not dedicated to your job. Of course, things pop up from time to time, but you mustn’t let those events get in the way of your work. Taking an afternoon off for a doctor’s appointment is one thing, but there’s no need to take the whole day off just so you can go shopping first.

Your boss may think you lack commitment.

If you find that you’re taking a personal day every month, your boss and colleagues may view your time off as excessive. When you constantly request time away from work – especially for events unrelated to your health or family emergencies – it can demonstrate a lack of commitment to your job. By avoiding unnecessary absences, when you need time off from work for a serious event, your boss will trust you and not question your request.

If you’re not careful, you might miss an important meeting.

If you take a day off from work, you might miss something important that happens at the office. This could be an essential meeting or some other type of work event that didn’t have advance notice. Although there’s no way to predict when you’ll wake up feeling sick, try not to call out sick too often so that you don’t miss out on these key opportunities.

When you want to go on vacation, the time is no longer there.

If you want to go on a big vacation this year, consider using your saved-up personal days all at once instead of one each month. In the end, you’ll be glad you did! You can use that extra time to escape to the Caribbean for two weeks or do something else fun and exciting.

Although binging on Netflix all day in bed sounds tempting, it’s not worth skipping work. After reading these reasons for why you shouldn’t call off from work, maybe you’ll be able to better decide when your next “mental health day” should be.

Share your thoughts below on whether you think taking time off from work is a bad idea!

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