Laura Duksaitė: I haven’t been on holiday for a year. Is there anything to be proud of?

I haven’t had a holiday for a year. Do you still hear such phrases?

Once spoken with secret pride, they have long ceased to be a sign of a tough leader or manager.

I notice that for about five years now, there has been a change in attitudes towards holidays. Going on holiday on time, knowing how to rest, has become a sign of good taste. It is not like the joke of the old days:

– Hey, it’s only 5pm – are you going home yet?

– Aha, I’m coming. But understand, man, it’s my holiday.

Managers are getting better at planning their holidays, which means it’s easier to take quality holidays without being disturbed by unfinished business or calls.

Just as the habit of calling or emailing colleagues after working hours is a thing of the past, so it has become commonplace for managers to rest during their holidays rather than deal with work-related issues.

Awareness is rising, not only among managers but also among all employees. There is more and more talk about work-leisure balance, emotional health, psychological well-being, creativity – all of which is impossible without proper rest and holidays.

A very detailed study on CEOs’ agenda published by Harward Business Review in 2018 (60,000 hours analysed) showed that CEOs work tirelessly, averaging 9.7 hours a day, and also working almost 8 out of 10 weekends (3.7 hours a weekend on average). Work also interfered with 70% of the holidays (on average 2.4 hours per day).

However, looking at the distribution of time, there is a balance between work and personal time: a third for work, 25% for personal time and 5% for holidays.

However, we don’t use all our holidays. I couldn’t find any Lithuanian studies on this, but apparently many of us know someone who has a month or more saved up.

An interesting study is being carried out in the US, which has been tracking holiday trends for many years. It turns out that the record number of unused holidays in the US was in 2017:

– More than half (!) of the staff had not taken all their annual leave.

– Around a quarter of holidays, or 768 million days, are not taken.

– More than a third went to waste (as with us, they disappear after a while without being used)

– The value of such accrued and missing holidays was $65.5 billion (compared to an annual budget of €15 billion for the LT)

I myself have just come back from three weeks’ holiday. I have to admit that in the first couple of days, I also had some commitments to finish. It was a bit of a guilty conscience that it was a holiday – and I am working, how come. But then I calmed down, because I am doing this of my own free will, finished what I had planned, and had three weeks of relaxed holiday. First a respite in Juodkrantė, then a lot of hiking on the Scottish trails.

Preventing burnout, boosting creativity, fresh eyes and improved productivity – I don’t think I need to be told how important it is to rest and disconnect from work regularly. It’s important to plan.

It turns out that planners are the ones who make the most of their days, take longer holidays and feel much happier – both at work and in their personal life.

So hurry up and plan your holidays, who hasn’t done so already.