“Out of Office”
Let's talk vacations.
I write this to you from Beirut, Lebanon, where I am from and where I am spending the next six weeks. My sister had her first baby a few days ago, and I am taking this time to be near my family. My days are spent helping with a precious newborn, and my nights are spent doing online therapy sessions with my stateside clients to ensure continuity of care, as well as completing IFS therapy training. (In-person stateside workshops are on hold until August, as you can imagine.)
As such, even though I am technically out of town, I am taking a proper vacation come September. Working for myself, it has taken me many years to realize that I have not prioritized taking time off. It's far too easy to fit in a couple of sessions when you office from home, and it's far too fun doing workshops and speaking engagements to say no. I can see clients from across the Atlantic Ocean, and so I do. I can do workshops virtually, and so I do. I can juggle it all, and so I do.
Because it's become quite convenient to work, it has been easy for me to forget that my travels have not equated to actual time off. I recently realized that I worked during the last week of December, saw clients from Montana on the days in between gatherings when we lost a loved one, and propped up my laptop in many a hotel lobby to squeeze in workshop consultations with businesses.
It has become harder for me to notice signs of fatigue and burnout. Being the agent of my own schedule means I have spent the last several years slowly crafting a weekly cadence that truly works for me. While this is wonderful, not experiencing typical signs of burnout has led me to disregard my need for true, pure vacation. When I worked more 'typical' jobs, I often experienced that yearning for time off, which was a reliable indicator.
The way many workplaces are set up, people don't take preventive time off. Instead, they feel obligated to wait until they are crashing or save up their time for one special thing a year. On average, 55% of Americans do not use all of their paid time off. And just over half of employees work to some extent during their vacations.
Here is what we know based on research:
Vacations boost productivity. Employees come back from time off refreshed and motivated.
Time away from what employees are focused on often results in a spark of creativity and a new perspective or solution to a problem.
People who don't utilize enough of their PTO experience higher rates and levels of anxiety and stress.
PTO is directly linked to mental health: for every additional 10 days of PTO, we see an almost 30% reduction in depression.
Going on vacation can lower our chances of dying from coronary heart disease.
Employee acquisition and retention improve when companies have generous, guilt-free PTO policies.
All this is to say, if you are in a position to influence your company culture, normalize and encourage taking adequate time off. Demonstrate taking vacations truly unplugged and allow your employees to witness this. If you are not in this position, take this as your permission slip to take an actual vacation. It doesn't have to be anything Instagram-worthy. It can be anything that brings you peace, joy, and restfulness.
As I always tell my workshop attendees, we don't wait until a plant is dry and crunchy to water it. We take care of it on a regular basis in order to prevent that from even happening. I hope you take the time you are given - now, if you'll excuse me, I have some very garlicky and lemony Lebanese food to go eat.