Have You Taken Your Vacation?
While taking a walk with our dogs, my friend Dave told me that he does his job with the perspective of “what if I got hit by a bus tomorrow?”. While I would never want Dave to get hit by a bus, I think this way of thinking is pretty healthy. It encourages him to make sure he is not the only one who knows how to do something, not to have secrets and try to do everything himself. What would happen in your workplace if you were hit by a bus tomorrow? Do your colleagues know what you are up to? Do they know where you keep things? How quickly could they jump in and keep things running in your absence?
One of the best ways to ensure your colleagues know what to do is to GO. ON. VACATION.
Preparing to go on vacation does several things;
Provides a chance to show others what you do and set things up. Where do people find things? What are your responsibilities? All of this knowledge will pay back in spades when you need to take off unexpectedly in the future.
Acknowledges all you do. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Provides an opportunity to clean up (like what we do to our house when we have guests) and reflect on our work responsibilities and way we get our work done.
Taking a vacation has important benefits;
Normalize taking vacation for others
Get some space to think about your life as a whole–getting out of the job mentality into the life mentality. Where does your job/career fit in to your big picture?
If you manage people, encourage them to go on vacation
Because that is the humane thing to do.
To better understand what your employee is doing and where everything is in case they are absent unexpectedly in the future.
Rest and Renewal makes them a better, more creative and clear-headed employee.
Stay-at-Home parents need vacations too
Writing out all you do in a day is eye-opening. Sharing this list with your spouse is particularly educational.
Taking a vacation allows your kids to connect with someone else in your absence. My parents watched our kids annually when my husband and I went away. This gave my parents the opportunity to learn the day-to-day lives of their grandchildren in a way that family visits don’t provide. They had an opportunity to get to know my kids’ teachers, drive to playdates and baseball lessons. They learned their way around. These are great memories for kids and my parents. Over the years they developed traditions for these times that they still remember.
Time away allows you to reflect on your larger goals as a person and as a family and implement some changes when you return home.
Going away builds confidence for everyone involved which allows you to be a more fully human as you navigate the demanding and often invisible role of being a stay-at-home parent.
So reach out to your travel agent, or just book a hotel in another state and get out of town! Life is short and vacations are fun. All of the benefits above are just the icing on the cake. Do the best you can to create a way to disconnect from your job and reconnect with yourself.
