Take A Break From Your Work! Free Time Is Important!
There was an interesting article written by Bill Sheridan from MACPA.org who talked about how business people or anyone who works should take a break.
Wanna know what he did recently?
He did absolutely “nothing.” During the time when he did “nothing” he learned how to jet ski, played golf, and read two books. Additionally, he went out, ate a bunch of food, and drank too much, along the way, he had late night gatherings with friends, and family, had a hangover, and slept in. He even downloaded Pokemon Go and went around spending a lot of time with his family.
The part about we said he did “nothing” was the work part. He did not do any work during that week.
According to Harvard Business Review reporters Shawn Achor and Michelle Gielan said that “Americans used to take almost three weeks of vacation a year (20.3 days) in 2000, but they took only 16.2 days of vacation in 2015. Over the past 15 years, Americans have lost nearly a week of vacation.”
Additionally, according to a new study by the U.S Travel Association and Project: Time, said “for the first time in recorded history, more than half Americans (55 percent) left vacation days unused, which equates to around 658 million unused vacation days.”
The Harvard Business Review article also said:
Remember, this is paid time off that is not being used. Let us ask you two questions to make this idea come alive: Would you do your job for free? And do you take all your vacation days? If you say no to the first, you had better say yes to the second.
In truth, if you are not taking all your time off, you’re not working more- you’re volunteering your time. This is our favorite conclusion from the study” “By giving up this time off, Americans are effectively volunteering hundreds of millions of days of free work for their employers, which results in $61.4 billion in forfeited benefits.”
One thing to note too, just because you are working longer hours and ignoring your vacation makes you more productive and more promotable. It’s a myth. In fact, the opposite is true. Taking your vacation time actually increases the likelihood that your will get a raise or a promotion.
So take a break folks. Your employers are paying you to take some time off. If you have your own business and worry about taxes? Your local Orange County CPA will help you out! Take advantage of their services. Why aren’t you taking it? Get out of town. Relax. Forget about work and do something fun for a change.
Many studies have shown that you will come back refreshed, more productive, and considerable more promotable than if you had stayed in the office.
The free time does not belong to your employer, it belongs to you.
***ARTICLE BASED ON BILL SHERIDAN OF MACPA.ORG***