You Earned It!

Did you know a total of 768 million vacation days went unused in the US in 2019? With 236 million of those days being completely unrecoverable. My obvious cause of frustration is that vacation days are a part of your total compensation package. As an employee, you are losing money in the form of benefits, benefits you negotiated and are entitled to.

More importantly, you’re starving your mind, body and spirit of much-needed time to recuperate. Whether you are trying to enjoy a staycation, enjoy the sites within your city or explore the beaches somewhere in the Caribbean, it is important for you to disconnect.

In 1910, United States President Taft proposed that everyone should receive three months of vacation. He stated this is important to allow people to rejuvenate and be able to rest so that they could come back in the next year as energized as they were at the start of the last. His peers obviously thought he was crazy and this idea was struck down. However, in Sweden and Germany, they have adopted versions of this idea by introducing 6 to 7 weeks of vacation.

What is stopping you from taking some much needed time for yourself? Illness, depression, time away from your family, it is not worth it.

It is the Thursday before the long weekend, go into your manager's office or send them a message, tell them (politely 🤗) that you will not be back until Tuesday. You can thank me later.