Vacating the premises
In a special Work-Life Balance section, CNN reported yesterday about vacation time in the United States.
Are you fearful to take time off because you think you might get axed?
Think again.
It has been proven that rested workers are more productive than those who work 16 hour days. The best thing to do is to communicate with your boss about quarterly goals. Ascertain how you might bring your own talent into the mix. Be clear about his or her expectations. Then exceed them.
That does not mean you have to pull all-nighters or weekend shifts. Be clear about your own limitations. Challenge yourself to apply your strengths, even if the job description does not require it. Always be your best. To do so, you have to unplug, take time off, and rest.
Contributing to the bottom line might mean splashing in the pool for a long weekend. Leisure time is as purposeful as work time.
Live it. Dream it. Be it. It is possible. Besides, you are only human and deserve a time-out.
In fact, everyone does.
3 Comments
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Willow Drinkwater
May 16, 2009 at 11:39 amAnd I can’t think of a better place to take time out than for a country mouse to go to the city…like New York!!! Still glowing from the lights of Yankee Stadium….
Gary Ellenbolt
May 17, 2009 at 1:48 pmI wonder, though, how many companies are making managers keep in contact on vacation. I worked for an outfit that required me, as a manager, to leave numbers where I could be reached any time I left for an extended period, and they didn’t hesitate to call. (This same company also made me take a vacation day for my father’s funeral, so there you go.) If corporate America wants its workers rested, then there should be an effort to let the worker do so.
GavinS
May 26, 2009 at 10:22 amI too work for a company where I have been contacted many times whilst on vacation. I have even had to hold hour long calls while just taking a day off. Occasionally you accept it, but when it becomes almost regular it does detract from the attempt to ‘get away from it all’.