On not feeling guilty - sick day edition

I took a sick day today. I've been sniffling and sneezing since Friday and I'm just plain exhausted. My sleep is out of whack probably because I haven't been able to properly breathe. I dragged myself in yesterday (albeit late) because I had class to attend and an exam to proctor. But today, I just had a busy day of experiments. But you know what those experiments could do? They could wait. So I emailed my PI and let him know I wouldn't be in today. Instead of lab work I slept. I mean really slept. I slept from midnight last night until noon today. Then I took an hour nap from 1-2pm. My body obviously needed sleep.

Credit: chibird.com

Do I feel guilty? A little but I know I shouldn't. And I know I feel a lot less guilty than I would have in past years so I'm making progress, right? Right?

I am a firm believer that I don't need to justify my sick day to anyone. When I request sick days I've always just simply stated a "I will not be in today" with no details on why. So why is it I feel the need to justify taking one to myself? I worked 14 hours Saturday and I even popped in Sunday for a bit to do tissue culture (I actually had a longer day planned for then too but I was so exhausted). Also I know when I'm exhausted I make mistakes in my work - so why am I going to go in to slog through an experiment that I'm likely going to have to repeat again? It's best just to rest. I know this so where is this cognitive dissonance coming from?

While I'm on the subject, here are other reasons you should take time off/rest without feeling guilty:

You're too stressed to actually get anything done. Take a step back.

You're feeling sick or exhausted. You will recover better and faster with rest so the sooner you do it the better.

You're no longer being productive.  

To spend time with your significant other and friends. Spending quality time is crucial to the success of your relationships. And your relationships are crucial to your social support network to get through grad school.

What else should I add to this list? Do you feel guilt for taking time off?

Okay, well I'm going to do some reading and writing as a way to help ease this guilt.