The Importance of Taking a Break From Work

When it comes to taking advantage of paid time off (PTO), recent statistics tell an alarming tale. According to a recent Pew Research survey, 46 percent of employees take less time off than their employer offers. In 2022, according to Qualtrics research, American workers left an average of 9.5 vacation days unused. Recent Canadian statistics paint an even bleaker picture, with just 29 percent of employees taking full advantage of paid time off.

That’s not all. In a 2023 ELVTR poll of 2,300 North American employees, most reported working while on vacation. Many also reported that weekends and nonworking hours are far from off-limits. Furthermore, according to 2023 Pew research, 55 percent of employees reported that they respond to emails and other forms of messages outside of regular working hours.

The high cost of stress and burnout

When it comes to work-life balance, numerous studies show that the greater the work-life balance the better the physical and mental health of employees. Despite years of research on the importance of creating and maintaining reasonable working hours, achieving such a balance can often be extremely challenging. Often, the pressures of looming deadlines, a demanding workplace culture, and implicit workplace demands on nonworking hours can make work-life balance seem impossible.

The value of disconnecting

The value of taking that postponed vacation and setting reasonable boundaries around minimizing communication with work colleagues outside of working hours are many, including stress and burnout prevention, gaining new perspectives on workplace stressors, improving mental and physical health, and improved sleep. Furthermore, vacations can be especially effective at raising levels of happiness, making time to reconnect with family and friends, and exploring locations and activities that foster joy and inspiration. Vacation time is also known to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. Time away from the daily grind also expands our creative abilities.

Building and enforcing healthy boundaries

Our time and energy are valuable—and finite—assets. At the end of the day, it is our responsibility to build healthy boundaries around our finite resources. Building healthy boundaries is all about prioritizing our mental and physical health, well-being, and needs, and building awareness of the causes and signs of workplace burnout, including trouble concentrating, exhaustion, irritability, a decrease in productivity, and physical symptoms, like headaches, muscle aches, gastrointestinal issues, and changes in sleep routines.

Beyond building healthy boundaries, it is important to communicate and reinforce them. If you have declined to take a much-needed vacation or struggle with workplace demands on your time on weekends and outside of regular working hours, chances are that you are surrounded by a corporate culture that does not understand the value and benefits of vacations and downtime.

Healthy boundaries do not reinforce themselves. It is up to each of us to take charge of our time and energy. We need to keep track of what we are entitled to when it comes to paid vacation time and schedule vacation times that work for us and for the people in our lives, rather than around the anticipated needs of our workplaces. We need to learn to say no to requests that place unfair and unreasonable burdens on our time and energies.

Time to take unused vacation time off the table

We can’t go back and reclaim those lost vacation days, but there is no time like the present to begin to create positive changes for our betterment and growth. Taking that unused vacation time off the table is a great place to start.

6 steps to creating a healthier work-life balance

• Acknowledge your lack of work-life balance. Awareness is the first step to creating change. If you are shortchanging yourself on vacations and weekends, think about where you can begin to make changes.
• Prioritize your well-being. Realize that it is in the best interest of your physical and mental health to take a break from your workplace.
• Schedule vacation time. There is no perfect time to take a break, so schedule your vacation around your preferences.
• Start saying no to unreasonable demands on your time. While on rare occasions, the final days before a significant deadline may be extra demanding of your attention and time, it’s important to draw the line when your workplace infringes on your downtime.
• Build healthy boundaries. Just as good fences make good neighbors, healthy workplace boundaries are key to avoiding workplace stress and burnout. Set, communicate, and reinforce healthy boundaries to supervisors and managers.
• Consider changing jobs, if your workplace is unsupportive of your efforts to maintain a healthy work-life balance.