When was your last holiday?
Have you ever been told to take a holiday?
Are people around you noticing that you have not had time off?
Or are you working through your holiday, so you don’t feel rested upon your return?
In Australia, we are entitled to 4 weeks annual leave per year and 10 – 13 public holidays, yet, there are very few of us who are using it. In many companies, there is also the ability to salary sacrifice or purchase leave and long service leave provisions so it is feasible that we can have up to 6 weeks leave a year but very few of us are taking this. 6 weeks works well for me, at least, 3 at Christmas, some time off at Easter, and another 2 weeks break somewhere in the year. Regular holidays for team members ensures they always have a carrot to look forward to and remain engaged in their work.
Another tip that far too many people don’t take advantage of is taking time off around public holidays. Often, Easter and ANZAC day fall close together so you can often have 3 weeks off and only use 12 days leave. This year in Queensland, Easter, ANZAC day, and Labour Day all fall within a month of each other so if you play your cards right and get in early, you can have 18 days off for 8 days annual leave! How good is that!
But what is more important than using your leave wisely is actually taking the leave. Leave means putting on an out-of-office, having a reliable person to answer urgent queries, and not checking emails, taking phone calls or even thinking about work issues. Do you think you can do that? Someone recently confessed to me that they had only 3-day maximum breaks over a period of 15 years. Unsurprisingly, they told me this after having a serious health scare that led her to realise she had not been looking after herself. She vowed to take more regular (and longer) breaks.
Our brains and bodies need significant downtime to recover, rejuvenate from the stresses of our work lives. I can hear some of you protesting already…I can’t take 3 weeks off work, everything will fall apart. I will just come back to 3 weeks’ worth of work if I took leave, no one else will do my work for me. That is what many fear (particularly the overworked and those with control issues) but has anyone ever actually done it to find out what happens. I will tell you what happens. You receive one email asking for assistance, they see you're out of office, realise you won’t be back for 3 weeks and find someone else to help them or do it themselves. When you come back, of course, there are emails to look through but 95% of them have been actioned or are no longer urgent. It is actually better going for a break longer than 1 week because many things can wait one week, but if they have to wait 2 weeks or more, they will find another solution.
Get in and get your leave booked, people...and then do your holidays right!