No, You Don’t Need To Work More — You Need To Take Your Damn Vacation Days

 

From never ending deadlines to impromptu projects, employees are working harder than ever — and their vacations are suffering. Surveys from Kelton Research for Radisson and travel websites like Expedia and Hotwire report that U.S. workers on average won’t use two of their vacation days (sometimes up to a week’s worth) by the end of the year.

Doesn’t sound like much? Well, all of those unused vacation days equals 226 million unused days in total, or $34.3 billion worth of time, according to estimates from CNN Money.

Why aren’t employees using their vacay days for, say, relaxation on white sandy beaches? Some say that taking a vacation is too expensive, while others claim heavier workloads are forcing them to forego time off.

Here’s the thing: all employees should always take all their vacation days. Your vacation time is part of your pay package, after all, and not taking them is like giving part of your paycheck back to your employer.

Another job-related price to pay for skipping your vacation: Not allowing yourself to re-energize can result in decreased productivity and work performance down the road. Your vacation time is an opportunity for you to renew, refresh, think, plan, and dream. You need that time to make memories with your family, or at the very least, decompress.

So the next time you’re contemplating working extra hours instead of taking time off, rethink it. Your vacation time has been negotiated and earned by you, just like your paycheck. You need to honor its value — and yourself.

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