TORONTO -- I love my job and I love my vacation time -- even in a pandemic.
I've always believed there is excitement that can lead to a sense of wellbeing when planning for a vacation and this year the pandemic has taken that away. However, it hasn't taken away my desire to enjoy downtime spent with family and friends to the extent that I can.
I've never felt the need to apologize for taking time off and no one has ever made me feel badly about doing so. I wondered if this feeling is universal?
It is not.
A recent ADP Canada survey revealed 27% of working Canadians will not be taking any time off during the holidays this year due to the pandemic. Some 43% of those surveyed have used less than half of their vacation allotment in 2020 while 25% have not used any of their vacation time.
This can become a serious mental health issue as burnout becomes a real threat. We all need some downtime.
Those who follow me on Instagram know that I love to have monthly challenges and our focus in December is our brain. Sharing ways to sleep more, exercise more, get outside more and stimulate our brain more, to name a few. But I get it, there is always so much to do even if your brain is telling you to slow down and take a break. If we are honest we have all heard that little voice telling us to smell the roses once in a while. And yet we shrug it off.
So I worry when people forgo vacation time or even postpone vacation time especially during a pandemic.
Some may feel during this past year they were lucky to have a job, so it is better not to take time off. Add to this the feeling of nowhere to go and nothing to do has some leaving vacation on table for better times ahead. In other cases I've been told they simply feel too guilty to take time off or it is too much work to do so.
It is a lot of work getting ready for a vacation.
The ADP report highlights a "time off tax," which is the time workers have to put in before and after a vacation. The average is a staggering 17 hours before the vacation and an additional 17 after the vacation for a total "time off tax" of 34 hours. It may not feel it is worth the effort but I still think it is and hope this year you will try to take a little time off for yourself.
Early on in my career my manager Ward Hargreaves sat me down and insisted I take my vacation and I have been living by his advice to this day.
He told me you need time off for:
- Mental clarity - when you push yourself too hard and for too long fatigue is accumulative and your body will push back
- Better balance, which can lead to better relationships
- Improved performance and higher levels of productivity
For those who haven't taken time off and have now lost those days in 2020 (under use-it-or-lose-it rules) and for others who have carried over time off until 2021, as hard as it may be, it is so important you make taking time for you a priority in 2021. If you don't - no one else will.
