Should I Feel Guilty For Taking A Vacation From Work?
The answer is no. You should not feel guilty for taking a vacation from work. Thank you for reading today’s blog. You can go now!
Kidding.
I write this as I sit in a beach house with my family at the Jersey Shore in Avalon, New Jersey. After months of getting used to our new world around COVID, my family decided it was time to take our socially-distanced selves on a vacation for a bit of rest & relaxation. I love it. What’s better than getting to relax with your family?
I’ve always enjoyed vacations and times to explore, but as we were planning this trip I started to realize that this was going to be my first vacation of more than just a weekend since starting my own business. I didn’t panic by any means, but I definitely struggled with wondering if it was “ok” that I took a vacation or some time to relax my mind. As I’ve now been saying since starting my own business, I am much happier working 80 hours a week for myself than 40 hours a week for someone else, but does that apply to vacation? Are you allowed to take a break when you’re self-employed? Are you allowed to step-away from email for a few days? What happens if something comes up? I don’t have employees to cover for me.
I’ll be honest, I struggled with this for a bit wondering if I’d truly get time to relax or if I’d be worried about work all of the time. Luckily with my great network & the power of social media, I received some helpful advice from others. I posed a question with a few thoughts on LinkedIn the other day:
“Do you struggle to take a break or step-away from your work while on a vacation?
What are your best practices? What are the results you've experienced from taking breaks?
There's a stigma associated with taking breaks or vacations from work that you are “lazy”, however the mental health benefits of doing so are clear. What are your thoughts?
As times have changed and remote working environments are becoming normal for many businesses, separating work from personal life has become more & more difficult. Many employers believe that since their employee is working from home, or can easily access their “office” from their computer, that they need to be working productively at every moment possible. This has certainly created a negative stigma around time-off, vacations and even tracking your hours since it is so difficult to step-away from work.
I LOVE LinkedIn. I may be the biggest LinkedIn advocate that I know because not only do I have 99.99% positive interactions compared to other platforms with some VERY dark corners, but I get to interact with amazing, success-driven individuals. Also a special shout-out to Micah Baldwin for the brief Twitter conversation we had as I have been making a focused effort to increase my presence on Twitter, (Follow me, @andrew_exler). Yes, there are some dark corners on Twitter, but there are also some amazing people on there I have started to follow who provide great thoughts & perspective such as Micah but also I must recommend Amanda Goetz, Matthew Kobach & Jack Appleby, to name a few.
Here are some of the best responses I received when I asked about best practices of taking a break. Thank you to Eric Licker M. Ed, Jeff Koch, Ari Polsky & David Ziskind, PE, PMP for your thoughts on this topic:
Yes, there is a science & statistics that exist to show the benefit of stepping away from work from time to time to free your mental health & enjoy time with friends and family. However, I want to share a few personal takeaways that weren’t made with a scientific formula.
Stay organized & plan ahead. If you are organized and are prepared for your time-off, you will have nothing to worry about. Have the proper procedures in place to make sure that nothing slips through the cracks while you are away.
Transparency is key. If you know you are going to be inaccessible for a period of time and you have clients or business partners, let them know. If you choose to work with & surround yourself with great people, they’ll be your biggest advocate to take some time off. Just don’t leave them in the dark wondering why they haven’t heard from you in 4 days or more.
Mental health is a priority. I don’t know who needs to hear this, but this is something I wish I learned when I was much younger. Take care of yourself. Talk to people. Step away from work from time to time & enjoy yourself. Even a 10-minute walk around the block during your work day is going to benefit you.
Disconnect to connect. As many people will tell you, including David in his prior comment, your time disconnected will create opportunities for you to do some of your best thinking. Put your phone away, turn off your notifications and live your life. If you do part 1 (stay organized & plan ahead), then everything will be in great shape when you return to your work.
Create a routine while away. My work is a one-person show. I don’t have employees and I know if I took a full-week off then I would return to a mountain of work. I set aside time every morning to enjoy my coffee & review emails, check-in with clients & ensure any urgent matters are dealt with. I love what I do so this doesn’t feel like work to me. I make sure I step away at a set time every day while on my vacation. Need help creating a routine? Contact me and I’ll walk you through a few thoughts.
Enjoy yourself! Vacation is vacation. Enjoy it!
Whether you think it is impacting you or not, COVID has been a traumatic experience for us as a society. You MUST take care of yourself and step-away from work at times. We are constantly learning every day to figure out what our world will continue to look like. Keep yourself at the top of your priority list.
Do you have questions or thoughts you’d like to discuss? I’m happy to talk things through with you. Connect with me on LinkedIn & follow me on Twitter!
- Andrew
