The questions: Do you take time off? Do you REALLY take time off? Do you know how to do nothing at all? Can you really relax and “shut down?” I’m concerned that for most working adults, genuine time off is challenging…..and for some people not at all possible because of no actual ALLOWED time off!
Our Labor Day Holiday was established 120 years ago. It IS intended as a holiday, a time to stop working. And on a larger level of how Americans work vs take time off? 500 MILLION days available to workers every year are NOT taken! I don’t have the stats on what percentage of those days are paid vs unpaid days off; however, 1/4 of workers have no paid holidays.
That last stat puts the United States shamefully behind other parts of the world. In Europe, workers get 20 paid days of time off. In Japan, 10 days. That’s ALL workers!
People interviewed about time off indicate concerns like these:
–The boss will think I’m not a serious employee
–I have too much work to do and can’t afford to get behind
–People who take too much time off don’t get promoted
–I’m afraid I’ll lose my job
–The person who wants the job I have will take advantage if I’m gone
–I have a strong work ethic
–I love what I do
I’m sure there are many more reasons. And I’m concerned that one is that many people don’t think they really need time off. I put that in the category of believing you can multi task. Sorry, the brain does NOT multi task. Oh, you can do more than one thing at once. It’s just that you can’t do them well or thoroughly and are making more mistakes than you realize.
AND the brain, the body, your emotional and spiritual well-being truly does need time off…. to just rest, recharge, refresh, power up… whatever term fits for you. Please don’t fool yourself into thinking you don’t need rest. The quality of the work you do improves when you are rested and clear headed.
So watch yourself for the excuses you give for staying busy or active vs just truly taking some time to relax! It’s worth examination.