As I go to work, feeling stressed and overworked, having to cut my vacation time short, this series of articles really struck a cord.
Bloggeropoly talks about why Taking a vacation is important.
According to the study, Canadians have about 21 days of vacation per year, though we don’t take them all. One quarter, in fact, don’t take all their days.
The study also found that those people who did not take vacation or who postponed their vacations were more unhappy with their jobs. Those who did take vacations enjoyed their jobs more upon return.
It may seem like common sense to take a break every now and then. But, ask anyone who is self-employed and you’ll hear just how hard that is. I think people who are self-employed are far less likely to actually leave their jobs each day, and pulling out a vacation is almost non-existant.
Taking vacations is a must. It’s something you need to pen into your busy schedule far ahead of time. No questions asked. We all need time to step back, relax, and get some perspective. Then, upon return, we’ll be far more refreshed.
In the post they link to the Expedia Annual Vacation Deprivation Survey, from which they got their info for the post.
On the same topic, the New York Times ran a story, On the Job, the Pauses That Refresh, that basically says the same thing… or was supposed to. Lately, I’ve found that I’m very distractable. I keep stopping in the middle of things and not finishing my projects with the same speed as I did before.
There is a point, of course, where distraction becomes blatant slacking off, but I would argue that some percentage of time wasted during work is actually a part of the work. I call it gel time, when a corner of your brain noodles with a problem while the rest of your brain checks the baseball scores or looks for replacement coffee mugs on eBay. In other words, gel time is what you have to do to make you ready to do what you need to do.
It might just be me, but I what I read in this article is that, while breaks are good, people are slacking off. (Story found via LifeHacker.)
I like ToDone’s Take Time Off better:
I want to point out that it’s a fine line to walk—this balance between work and life. If you find yourself either working too much or working too little it’s probably a good idea to take a step back and do a re-evaluation your job. Also, do a general check of your attitude towards your work. Are you excited about it? Does it make you feel good? Has it changed?
I’ve seen in my own work how something can start great and turn sour. Working too much, or too little, and not being happy about it can be a good indicator that you might not be in a good spot.
Sometimes a change can be good and sometimes you just need to take a break to see things as they are.
What does it mean when you don’t want to go into work in the morning? What does it mean when you’re a workaholic and you don’t want to go into work? I have all the signs of someone in need of downtime. Serious need of downtime. Or more breaks.
Which do you think is gonna happen?
