Is Not Taking a Vacation Actually Killing You?

Have you ever counted down the minutes until you could set your out of office message for a day off?  I am not talking about some fabulous trip that you have planned to Paris, Australia or Costa Rica, I mean an actual day off. I did that today and as I was watching the clock I thought, this is fucking insane.  I shouldn’t be this excited to take a day off to go to the doctor, run errands and do laundry and prepare to host a bridal shower…

If you are an American, only 59% of us have access to paid time off according to the Labor Department. The U.S. is the only major developed country that does not require companies to give their employees a minimum number of vacation days. In fact 60 countries actually require a minimum number of vacation days.  Check out the entire list on Huffington Post.

There is also a stigma at many corporate companies against people that actually use vacation days. If you take a day off in my office, you will certainly be given an extra pile of work to complete before you go and are usually expected to check email while out as well. One woman was told she should bring her laptop on her honeymoon.

I could site a million studies that show data that working constantly and never taking time for yourself isn’t healthy. Seriously we need studies to tell us that doing the same stressful job day in and day out for 40+ years without taking a break isn’t healthy.

Let’s get real, work is stressful, and stress fucks with your mind and body.  Take a vacation. End of story. Click to tweet this little gem.

It would also benefit companies to encourage people to actually use vacation time. I am not counting the companies that are about to lay people off and want everyone to use vacation time so they don’t have to pay anything extra (you know who you are).  Taking some time off to do something that makes you happy is good for everyone around you.  You don’t have to take some big expensive vacation, just do something for yourself.  Hopefully you work someplace that will let you unplug and recharge (which is kinda funny, because usually when you unplug things they don’t charge).  Regardless-it is important.

Have you used any vacation time this year? What did you choose to do with your time?  If you haven’t used any, please do and tell me all about it!