Why Everyone Deserves to Unplug on Vacation
With summer coming to a close soon, lots of people are bemoaning the end to their annual ritual of taking time off. I know I’m sad summer is almost over. About 15 years ago, my husband and I decided that we would take two consecutive weeks off every year.
We found that one week wasn’t enough. Just as we were getting relaxed it was time to go back to work. That decision has been a lifesaver and mental respite that’s like breathing to us. It’s a must. Two weeks. Together. Every year.
But many people don’t take all the vacation they’ve earned.
Unbelievable to me, 40 percent of all workers don’t take all of their vacation, leaving 430 million days of unused paid vacation a year, according to a survey by the U.S. Travel Association, reports The Washington Post’s Brigid Schulte.
What’s wrong with you people? Get out of the office. Take some time off. You don’t even have to go anywhere, especially if you can’t afford it. Do a “staycation,” meaning you just stay home and relax. Kick back. But get away from those dreadfully long and boring office meetings, deadlines, projects and, yes, for many of you, co-workers who get on your last nerve.
So, why don’t you take your time off?
You may have what’s called a “work martyr complex,” Schulte writes. And she lays out from the survey some of the reasons people gave for not taking a vacation:
— About 40 percent said they worry about returning to a mountain of work.
— Thirty-five percent said they don’t leave because they feel no one else can do their job.
— One-third said they couldn’t afford to use their paid time off, and one-fifth said they didn’t want to be seen as replaceable.
“We found that people have this whole busyness as a badge of honor thing,” Roger Dow, president and chief executive of the U.S. Travel Association, told Schulte. “We’re becoming a nation of work martyrs. People really wear it on their sleeves how they don’t take time off. Everyone around the world looks at Americans like we’re crazy.”
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Source: Washington Post