ajcjobs > BlogBreak > Archives > 2007 > July > 02
Monday, July 2, 2007
Are vacations ever really vacations?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When I was growing up, a vacation meant that you piled in the car with your family and drove to the beach and life took on a completely different pace. Dad read the paper, relaxed and played with us like he was a kid again. Sometimes we went to see family but even then, the adults and kids loosened up. Adults talked, napped and ate at a different pace. No one considered calling the office or worrying about what was going on back at work.
Jobs being the way they are these days, often don’t permit the luxury of really being “away”. As I plan my vacation next week, I wonder why I feel the need to give permission for folks at work to call if needed. I have colleagues who fly away to distant shores, ditch their cells and blackberries and don’t check their emails. Others I know call the office daily. Why is that??
In some surveys, 75% of executives say they perform work at least “a few times a week” during their vacation. Among non-managerial employees, on the other hand, only 26% say they do any work during their vacation time and the majority (54%) they never work during their vacation.
Intellectually I believe it’s important to your sanity and health to mentally separate yourself from your day-to-day for however long you can afford to be away. I’m talking - you really need to go - for your sake, your family’s sake and for your colleague’s well being as well. You need a new perspective and a new attitude - to be able to see things clearly without the dust of the day-to-day grind. Too often, though, we have this idea of being indispensable. Are we afraid to face the fact that we need the job more than it needs us?
I’m going to give it a try, I won’t even think of work or what’s going on back at the office. They’ll just have to survive. It’ll wait till I get back or someone else will do it while I’m gone just like I covered for others while they’re gone. How about you? Will you really take a vacation this time or will you return with sand sticking to your crack-berry? Think about it. Here are some ideas on severing the ties temporarily!
Do you constantly check your blackberry or call in when you take time off? Or do you completely relax while you are on vacation?
