News Flash: it’s August, and you haven’t taken a vacation yet.
Wondering how we know? Because plenty of Americans are in the same boat –failing to disengage from work long enough to justify calling their break a vacation.
There are plenty of suspects in this “vacation murder” crime scene, among them:
- Technology: when you can be reached 24/7, you probably frequently are. Things have gotten so bad with constant “on-ness” that employers in France and Germany are forbidden from contacting employees on their off hours. We think that’s laudable, but we also wonder what happens if there’s an emergency to contend with? We’d rather know, than not.
- Lean staffing: hiring may be up nationally, but many American workplaces are still pretty no- to low-fat enterprises. Shouldering more work often means that it feels impossible to break free. Sometimes – and we’ve felt this ourselves – the extra work of preparing to leave and returning to one’s desk scarcely feels worthwhile.
- Competition: one of the lessons of the Great Recession was that nobody was immune from a downsizing. Plenty of workers still feel that keeping their nose to the proverbial grindstone keeps the grim reaper away. It may, but then again, plenty of research also shows that time does not equal productivity. According to a study of HR directors, 77% of them believe employees who take vacation time are MORE productive than those zombies who grind away with no time off.
And that’s why we are proud to say that around here, we’ve taken some time off this summer. Weddings, beach houses, cool New York lakes and other getaways beckoned. And in a few cases, there was neither WiFi nor 3G available. Talk about luxury!
Some of this was in small chunks tacked onto a weekend. And one of us left town for two whole weeks. That felt scary. But guess what?
The office didn’t crumble. Competent colleagues extinguished little brushfires. Emails awaited our return.
More importantly, we came back revived. We had creative thoughts to share with clients, renewed energy for the days ahead, and ideas for growing our business.
So if you’re still reading this AND haven’t vacationed yet this summer, close this window and jump on Kayak.com or Expedia. Book a vacation between now and Labor Day. Bring the people you most love. Or don’t. Just make yourself go.
Your brain will thank you. And so will your coworkers.