Folks, an article on Management Issues about an annual poll on  how Americans use their time off got me thinking about something I want to share with each of you- USE YOUR VACATION TIME.

I try and fail each year to use as much time off as I can. I’m a workaholic- and the times I’m not working at the DJD (Dreaded Day Job) I’m working on this podcast, but that’s relaxation and a hobby- at least that’s what I tell the Duchess and Her Serene Highness as I snarl at them to stay the $*()_%@ out of my office

This is mostly- but not entirely- an American thing. Our marketing VP is from Belgium and let me tell you she has NO problem at all taking every minute of vacation time she’s offered. Works like a demon the rest of the time but isn’t shy about saying “I’m gone for the next two weeks, muddle on without me”.  Neither does our New Zealander head of IT.

I remember being furious because I couldn’t get hold of her for two weeks around Christmas. Then I thought….why am I mad at her because she’s taking time she’s due? And why am I working on the 27th of December when everyone I manage is recovering from The Holidays?

So, I’m going to try and be a good boy and take my time off… in small chunks but take it none the less. Here are some ideas for helping wean yourself off the calendar….

• Take short 3-4 day blocks off at first until you notice that the company is still standing when you return
• Give plenty of notice to your team and the people who haunt you most
• Despite that, they’ll send you emails and voicemails anyway because they don’t believe you. Make sure your “out of office” memo states when you’ll return voicemails and emails.
• Stick to it. You’ll be amazed how many things are solved by the time you get back
• Leave your cellphone/blackberry/electronic tether in the room when you go to the pool. It will still be there when you get home
• Unless you’re working on the Great American (place nationality here) Novel, leave the laptop at home and use the Hotel’s business center. You can still get your pixel fix if you need it but you’ll actually have to leave the spa to do so and that desire will pass after the second Mai Tai

I’m going to assume that many of you are already following this advice since our numbers have been down the last couple of weeks, and I can only assume you’re on vacation and will come back when you’re home.

You will come back, right?

This entry was posted on Friday, June 9th, 2006 at 10:05 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.