08/05/2007
A two-week holiday is a good career move
Holidays are beneficial, and the longer the better. Experts recommend cutting the chord from work for 10 work days or more at a time.
Experts recommend that taking two weeks or more holidays at a time is the most beneficial for workers. That’s because people generally begin to report lower levels of stress after being away for longer than a week.
Dr Mel Borins, author of Go Away, Just for the Health of It, says that people are less stressed after a holiday, their burnout level goes down, work efficiency improves and there is less absenteeism.
Even with the statutory minimum of 20 days holidays a year, only a minority of us take a full two weeks off at a time. So why the hesitation to cut the chord for a mere 10 work days?
Guilt, fear and an entrenched culture of overwork are often cited as reasons people don't take more holiday time. Often there's a sense of guilt or reluctance about taking holidays, or at least taking too much of them at once. The advent of technology that lets you stay in touch 24/7 is also to blame as workers become hooked on their jobs no matter where they are.
According to Dr Borins, even people who love their jobs need to break away - if only to gain a fresh perspective. He has seen the therapeutic effect of holidays; “headaches, rashes, neck pain and other maladies often clear up after a break from the daily grind”, he says.
Holidays are beneficial, and "the longer the better", he believes. But, he says, if you can't take a long holiday, at least take some long weekends; “Any break is better than no break.”
Pre-holiday Tension
As workers prepare to leave the country for their summer holidays, many are under increasing pressure to finish their workloads and ensure things are running smoothly before they leave, which has resulted in a new form of stress know as PHT.
Pre-holiday Tension comes in many forms and typically emerges as workers work long into the night in the weeks leading up to their holiday.
The average worker will work an extra nine hours outside of normal working time to complete their workload and arrange a 'handover' before they go on holiday, and this rises to an average of 17 hours for Directors.
Top five work issues people worry about on holiday:
|
Work Issue |
% who've worried
about it |
|
Things will go wrong while you are away |
47 |
|
You've forgotten to do something important |
43 |
|
You'll have too much work when you get home |
42 |
|
Important work decisions will be made in your absence |
28 |
|
You'll be made redundant while you're away |
10 |
A degree of planning can help ensure that a holiday is both restful and does no damage to your career.
Some tips to consider include:
- Trying to book time off when you need it and your schedule allows and not getting trapped in the use-it-or-lose-it situation where you must take your unused holiday days before a set date.
- Letting your boss know months in advance when you plan to take time off, and reminding him or her as the date approaches.
- Clearing the desk before you go, finishing up any unfinished business, so you can leave with a clear conscience.
- Making sure co-workers are up to speed and can handle certain responsibilities while you're away.
- Bringing your work to a logical stopping point and providing your boss with an assessment in writing of current projects.
- Taking it easy. Not running your holiday like your job by trying to cram museums and other sites into a daily to-do list that only exhausts you.
- Making a clean escape - no mobiles, no laptops, no calls from work.
- Easing back into things your first week back from holiday, by scheduling fewer appointments and continuing to do things that keep you in a relaxed frame of mind, such as going for a massage.
Debbie O'Halloran