For most people, the cold is nothing more than an irritation that they have to deal with for a few days. For others it can be a big pain to deal with. Typically a cold won't keep you home from work or doing other things, but sometimes it will.

If your cold is bad enough, you should stay home. Things that make it bad enough can include: Severe sore throat. If your throat is severely sore and you can not talk with out coughing immediately, you should not be out in public. You will do no good trying to communicate with others if they can't understand you. Also, the more you try to talk and the more you cough, the worse you will make your sore throat.

If you have persistent coughing that won't go away. Most of the time, a cough drop will suppress a cough, but other times it won't. When you can't suppress the cough, you should stay home. No one likes to listen to others that can't stop coughing. It can be disruptive and you are spreading germs into everyone else's environment. Remember, a cold is usually a way for your body to tell you that there is something in it that isn't supposed to be there.

If you are running a fever with your cold, you should stay home. A cough is bad enough, but if the coughing and sneezing are not doing the trick, your body might run a fever and tell you it needs a little more rest. Listen to your body and take it easy for a day.

If you have really bad head cold, you probably want to stay home. Usually with a head cold, you can have headaches, blurry vision, dizziness, and a hard time focusing your mind. This is no way to go out into the work place. Very few bosses will want you at work, and even less will want to be around you.

A nasty cold won't only affect you. It affects everyone around you and can be contagious. If your cold is bad enough to make you want to curl up and not see the world, then stay home. If it is really bad, think about seeing a doctor, and then curling up on your bed and not seeing the world. Rest is the best way to get over a sickness, so take it and get better.

Learn more about this author, Sas Freeman.
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