Somehow, against all the world’s better judgement, I have found myself as a manager at work. Now, I don’t claim to be a great manager (nor am I one of those people who calls themselves a “leader” and offers up management advice to anyone who will listen) but there is one thing that I pride myself on: encouraging folks to take time off.
Two things made me think of this today:
1. This story on NPR that finds a very slight correlation between people who take time off and people who advance at work. This makes sense to me, since people really do need time off from work to recharge.
2. This post from Matt Haughey, which I shall quote in its entirety:
I just realized I went almost a year without taking vacation and it was the stupidest thing I’ve done in my career.
Thanks to a couple trips this month it turns out I’m only working half of August and I’m feeling way less burnt out than I’ve felt in months. No more “stocking up for a rainy day” as you slowly get ground down by everything.
Take regular time off, people.
I know not everyone has the opportunity to take time off, which makes it even more important that the people who can take time off do, in fact, use their time.
And just for fun, here’s a picture of Marisa and I enjoy some time off in Ireland (though I feel like I could use another vacation!):