A few years ago my partner and I went to Chicago for a long weekend. We arrived on Saturday morning and by that evening I was feeling totally relaxed. I had forgotten how nice weekend getaways can be. We had taken Monday off and booked the red-eye back Tuesday morning.
Despite getting Monday as an approved vacation day, I found myself working. I actually made myself work. You see, the week before our trip I attended a meeting about an upcoming project. As we were deciding on next steps, planning a follow up meeting was becoming difficult with so many schedules to coordinate. I found myself volunteering to join a conference call on the Monday that I was going to be Chicago. In the moment, I didn’t think it was a big deal. In fact, taking a call during my vacation felt better than the idea of coming back to work and being behind on an assignment. I thought, for the good of the company, I should compromise and make myself available.
Heading into the weekend, I wasn’t feeling stressed about the call on Monday. However, on Sunday night, I started to get frustrated—I hadn’t thought about work in a few days and now I had to host a call in the middle of my vacation! I did this to myself! I basically handed my company a free hour of my work. I had earned my paid time off like everyone else, but I was valuing it at a lower rate. The 8 vacation hours I took on Monday turned into 7. I would never get that hour that I earned back. Why didn’t I realize this before I volunteered to literally give my vacation time back to the company?
What I’ve come to understand is that when I’m at work, I have this ability to lose myself. I can prioritize work over everything—even my vacation plans. This is not healthy. I was lacking boundaries around my time off. No one was helping me establish them either. But you know what? I’m a grownup. If I can earn vacation time then l can learn how to set boundaries around it. Everyone has to catch up when they come back from being out—even if they’re out for just one day. This is life. I’m fortunate to earn paid time off, I should have the self respect to honor it. After all, if I don’t respect the boundaries of my time off, why should anyone else?
Do you have a way of preserving the boundaries of your time off? Tell us about it!