You Should Still Take Vacation
If you worked from home during a blackout, the past eight weeks have likely been twice as busy and stressful as usual. After all, you were faced with the daunting task of staying productive while learning new tools, figuring out how to communicate with remote colleagues, trying to balance productivity and parenting (not to mention homeschooling), and maintaining a household when daily tasks such as shopping for groceries is much more difficult than usual, plus all the anxiety associated with living during a global pandemic .
And that means it might be time to take a vacation.
As Kenadie Silcox explains at Money.com , if you work in a job that you have the option of requesting a long weekend, it is worth taking it, even if you are not going to leave your home.
Think about your usual vacation. When you are relaxing on the beach or reading by the pool, your goal is to relax. A day off at home may feel different, but if you’ve been working overtime in the past few weeks, setting aside time to just eat in front of the TV is not a bad idea.
If vegetarianism in front of the TV isn’t your thing, use warm weather as an excuse to spend the day outside exploring parks, trails, or anything else that is a safe distance (both from your home and other people).
Silcox also suggests you frame your shipment request not as a vacation per se, but as a mental health day. If your boss is the person who understands that more than anything else you need a day without any plans or commitments, then the day when you (and everyone else in your family) can rest your mind and yourself. … tel, you can make a day off on Friday or Monday. Remember that even a short break from your routine – and from work – can help prevent burnout.
If you can’t take a break right now, whether it’s for a vacation or for mental health reasons, see if you can label your upcoming weekend as a Day Without Plans. Treat it like the vacation / recovery day you need: time to relax, read, watch TV, go outside and enjoy the sun, play with the kids, or whatever else you had “if I had more time. “
And then go ahead and block the Day with no plans for next month – because you’ll probably need a break in a few weeks.