Vacation Should Be Mandatory

It seems like skipping vacation is far more prevalent in America today than skipping school ever was. Between acquisitions, leadership changes, downsizings, rightsizings and more, there never seems to be a good time to take a break in today's fast-paced business environment. And we're just talking about a week or so -- not the month or more taken by many Europeans.

This reality hit me as I was sitting on my hotel veranda in Turks and Caicos earlier this week, overlooking a gorgeous turquoise blue Caribbean sea, with my daughter happily playing in the sand and my husband winging a hobie cat up onto one hull. Watching them play, I was reminded again how important unplugging and tuning out really is. Not only for the sheer enjoyment we all deserve and should have but because our brains and bodies need to completely reboot every now and then. I've always done some of my best creative thinking while jogging. Vacation is just an even bigger and better opportunity to let my mind wonder and ponder. For me, vacation is: part rest; part relaxation; part exploration and part reconnection - with myself, with family and with friends.

There may be no such thing as an 8-hour day anymore. And, if you're like many people, you may feel you can never afford to take a day off. You may feel the business will fall apart without you. Or, even worse, you may fear your absence will not actually be noticed that much, thus putting into question your actual value. I myself admit that I can find it hard to be truly "off", between long hours at the office and a blackberry for any and all times I happen to be "not working," work today is a bit of an addiction -- for me and many others. But, if you can relate to any of these feelings, it's more important than ever to take a break. No one is or should be irreplaceable and no one should see vacation as something the "wimps" do. Stop sweating it. Plan well and then just take off and don't look back. It doesn't have to be fancy or expensive. You don't even have to go anywhere. But, if you employer gives you paid vacation, use it! It's important. In fact, I think employers should help out by making it mandatory that we all use our vacation days. We'd be better people and better employees if we did.

Perry Yeatman is the SVP of International Corporate Affairs and Global Issues Management for Kraft Foods and co-author of the award-winning book Get Ahead by Going Abroad: A Women's Guide to Fast Track Career Success.

Comments

[True]

For me, taking time off involves working three times as hard before i leave to get everything done before i leave, and then working three times as hard when i get back to catch up on everything that's missed. And let's not forget the projects i have to work on while i'm on the airplane, etc.

Vacation isn't worth that much work.

[image18301]

One thing is clear: We are a nation that lives to work, not works to live.

This is the stuff corporate dreams are made of.

[Cathexis]

I agree: Vacation should be mandatory.

Unfortunately, unregulated Business is trying to squelch vacation, IMO. Note one popular trend: Conflating vacation time with "sick time." This effectively limits the number of days you can miss work due to illness, as well as constrains vacation-taking (don't use too much, or you may be caught with no paid days left, if you fall ill).

Just one more demonstration of pushing costs/risks of doing business down to employees.

[realitytrumpsbull]

I think you should be able to take 80 years of vacation. It's simple, just say the magic words, "I quit", and go do something else with your life besides punching a clock to be involved in a business you apparently have no stake in. I think, for mental health reasons, you should take no less than 2 weeks off per year, even unpaid, but just take 14 days and shut off.

[RepublicanBrain]

Well, I know most people in my office save their vacation days because they want to take a big trip (This lady I know saved for a long time so she and her husband can tour the Mediterranean for 3 weeks.)

I think taking vacation days is nice, but we are an increasingly upward-thinking society. We don't take them because we want to show the boss that we're willing to work hard for them, and we're the best candidate for raises and promotions when performance reviews come up.

But I think people should take vacation time. Relaxing, restful vacations make for happy, restful parents, and happy and well-rested parents are the best.

[sonofloud]

hell how about health insurance???

[hopeless277]

Our beloved government in league with the airline industry has made any vacation I might want to take a nightmare of the first order.
1. Airline tickets cost an arm and a leg.
2. Risk of getting caught on the tarmack for 8 to 10 hours.
3. Risk of having to strip in the middle of the airport to prove I'm not a terrorist.
4. Risk of crashing due to lack of controllers and overworked pilots.
5. Getting to destination with no luggage and no one to contact from the airlines.
6. Tipping EVERYONE every time you pass them.
7. Unable to afford even the sleaziest hotels due to taxes levied by sports stadiums.
8. Fat people in middle seats.
9. Babies on airplanes.
10. Impossible to find airport parking.

Bottome line: vacations are out. There is no place in the world that I want to see badly enough to go through the gaultlet of travel.