When you’re poorly, you should listen to what your body is telling you. At the moment, mine is telling me I need rest on the sofa watching Married at First Sight Australia.

I’m writing this a few days later than planned, having been given the lurgy as a thoughtful Mother’s Day gift from my five year old. So the topic of “soft off days” has felt pretty relevant this week.

Taking a soft off day – basically doing the bare minimum you can get away with at work – can be divisive. Some see it as a brilliant hack, allowing more time off without using up annual leave. Others think it’s just skiving with better PR. Both perspectives are understandable, and the reality probably sits somewhere in the middle.

When I managed a team in the corporate world, I always tried to be understanding about sickness and those days where everything feels like too much. Most managers are more human about this than people give them credit for. But there’s a difference between saying “I’m not at my best today” and keyboard jamming, inventing fake meetings, or disappearing early without a word. One builds trust, the other erodes it – fast.

The thing is, soft off days only really work if you’re honest about them. With your manager, with your team, and with yourself. A quiet word saying you’re running on empty is almost always better received than radio silence or a performance of busyness. Most decent managers would rather know.

You can read more of my thoughts on soft off days – and hear from some people who swear by them – in this Metro article.

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