By Chelsea Babin

When you work in an office, you’re going to be exposed to germs. If you want to stay healthy during the rest of sick season, use these 7 tips to help you stay healthy and handle the sick season well at work.

1. Healthy Habits are a Must: From taking vitamins to eating healthy to drinking plenty of water, minimizing your chances of getting sick starts with your healthy habits. If coworkers seem to be dropping like flies during sick season you need to prioritize your healthy habits to avoid the same fate.

2. Have the Necessities Handy: From tissues to tea to humidifiers, there are a lot of things you can keep on your desk to help you and your coworkers get through sick season in peace and harmony.

3. Prioritize Sleep: Whether or not you feel something coming on, you should be proactive about prioritizing your sleep during sick season, especially if other people in your office are getting sick and having to take days off because of it. Rest is a powerful tool for fighting off illnesses and fighting illnesses once you have them. Plus, getting enough sleep will make you more productive during your workday!

4. Be Proactive When You Don’t Feel Well: If you wake up feeling sick, you need to let your boss and coworkers know right away. You also need to be proactive about going home and staying home so you can avoid getting your coworkers sick. If you’re honest about how you’re feeling you can prevent a massive office-wide breakout of disease and your coworkers will be more likely to do the same in the future, preventing you from catching whatever they have.

5. Cover Your Bases If You Have to Take Time Off: Set an away email, reschedule meetings, provide contact information to people who might need you urgently, and provide updates to your coworkers when you know how many days it’ll be until you’re back in the office. Keeping everyone up-to-date is essential but may be overlooked if you’re surprised by a sick day. But, covering your bases will lead to less confusion in the office while you’re gone and less chaos when you get back.

6. Do What You Can From Home: If you’re staying home because you’re contagious but you feel you have a little bit of energy or ability to focus, try to get a few things done so you won’t feel so swamped and overwhelmed when it’s time to go back to work. Do what you can from home but remember to prioritize rest and fluids so you can get healthy faster and get back to the office sooner.

7. If You Have to Go In, Be Cautious and Sanitary: Sometimes you just can’t stay home. If you’re in a situation where you can’t take a sick day, do your best to keep your desk sanitary and try to reschedule meetings or offer to do them over the phone. Use your energy strategically, prioritizing tasks that absolutely must be done and know your limits. If you postpone rest it will just take you longer to get healthy again.

When you work in an office, the negative effects of sick season can’t always be avoided. But, if you put these 7 tips to good use, you’ll be able to navigate it expertly and stay well or get well quickly if you do catch something.