A Few Words About Vacation Days
*Post by Julie Pierce*
This post is for all of you high-achievers out there. You pride yourself in being available 24/7 and think every text is like your own personal Bat-signal pleading for you to come to the rescue and save the city. Not taking time off is like a badge of honor you wear with pride. You’ll take a long vacation in Heaven, or maybe after your big project gets launched.
Just a word from experience for the high-achievers: what you contribute is valuable, but you are not the savior of the organization. You do not need to prove your worth and value by working non-stop. Your strength and energy and leadership have limits. Your true identity is not found in what you do for your job, or even for God, but in Christ.
This post is also for those of you who feel more overwhelmed at the idea of leaving your office than at the endless hours you spend there. You think it’s impossible to take one day off, much less all those vacation days your company gives you. You think you would be burdening others or somehow showing a lack of competence if you let them handle your responsibilities for a few days.
My word of experience for the overwhelmed: the work you do is important, but the to-do list will never be completely checked off. There will always be another email to answer, another project on the horizon, another person wanting your input. You don’t need to prove your dedication. You will not be abandoning your team by stepping away for a day or two.
As leaders, extended time away from our work brings much needed replenishment and joy. In her article titled “Should Leaders Go On Vacation?”, author and Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter had this to say,
“Is there a connection between vacations and creativity, vacations and health? I think so. Pauses refresh. Everyone needs down-time to renew, reenergize, and re-bond with family. Time away while accumulating new experiences can stimulate imagination and support innovation. In short, making the link between time off and time on can be broadly beneficial.”
Obviously, when taking your vacation days you will: plan ahead, be sensitive to the timing of major initiatives in your workplace, request approval from your boss with plenty of notice, tie-up loose ends for your colleagues, and change your voicemail and email auto response. You will also set up the appropriate boundaries needed with your co-workers and clients so that you aren’t just working from another location but are truly experiencing a break from your work.
My challenge for all of us: try and use every vacation day you have this year. Use an afternoon for a long nap or a matinee, a day to hang out with a friend, or a week to go to the beach. Your body, mind, and soul will be better for it. And so will your leadership.
Questions for reflection:
Do you find it hard to take time off?
What do you think is really behind your hesitation?
Thanks for the reminder, Julie. I'm putting in my time-off request right now!
Cheers,
Tim
So well said, Julie. Thank you!
Oh my word. This is me. I am having an incredibly difficult time learning to do this. As a matter of fact, just before reading this post, I was debating going shopping, which I desperately need to do, or working on a writing project that needs to be finished. It's not even 8am on Saturday morning right now.
Every weekend, my boss's wife will call me and say "What fun thing are you doing today? Make sure you take a break!" My dad was a workaholic and that's what he valued, so that's what I learned to value. I have a worked a few places in my life where the values were similar, and taking time off or getting sick was seen as weakness. The last place I worked, I learned quickly to either never take time off or make absolutely sure I closed every possibly loophole to everything that I could even anticipate going wrong in my absence, because even one little snafu painted whoever was out as lazy and so anxious to get out the door they couldn't make sure things were set before they left. I watched that happen to several people and learned my lesson.
The combined result created a monster. I had to give my laptop to someone last weekend for a hard drive replacement and memory upgrade, and they kept it overnight. I thought about it constantly and worried about what was happening with it. I told my boss's wife about it, and she just looked at me for a minute, then said, "You need to get over that. Walk down to the beach at least a couple times a week and stop working all the time." It's definitely a switch for me to be in such a different environment, and I have a lot of habits I have to unlearn. It's a good environment, though, because they are not about working less, they are all about working smarter.
A great resources for this kind of thing is "Rework" by the guys from 37Signals. Thanks for this post.
Ahh. Typos. One of my "ultimate signs of failure." lol! Kinda not lol though.
Kim – thank you so much for your honest response. I have been both the overachiever and overwhelmed mentioned in this post (that's why I could describe them so well!). Re-wiring your default approach, your way of looking at work and rest and value and identity – all of this takes time. I think for me being mindful and noticing when I can't seem to turn it off or when the rhythm is not work and rest but just work is a great first step. Then I can start to ask all the hard questions: why is it so hard to unplug? what am I afraid of? what am I really reacting to? who is really expecting this of me?
And Rework is an excellent recommendation. Another recommendation I would add is Rest by Keri Wyatt Kent. Thanks again for engaging Kim!!
I just did a post on rest too, Julie: http://theradicaljourney.com/2012/04/09/give-it-a…
Hope you get a chance to read it and let me (and the gang at The Radical Journey) know what you think!
Tim
P.S. I love Keri's writing. She very graciously invited me to do a guest post for her a while back, but her stuff is way better than mine.
Hi Julie!
Well, this was a much needed reminder that one of my goals for 2012 is to plan and take a VACATION!! Well said – thank you for sharing your words of wisdom gleaned through experience. I'm excited to see the benefits that will flow from a time of rest and relaxation =) Hope all is very well!
Blessings,
Ashley
Such a great yet interesting post. Thank you very much for sharing this helpful stuff.