Working 80 To Take Off 80

I’m in the middle of a two-week vacation. Yes, my friends, I take two weeks IN A ROW. This is only the 3rd time in my 30-year career that I’ve made this bold move.

Boomers have become so work-obsessed that we often don’t know how to disconnect from work. Every year there are stories about how much vacation time many Europeans take each year and how little Americans take. I have worked at my company for many years and have a good contract, so I am very lucky in that I can take a total of four weeks. I used to spread the weeks around the year, never daring to take 2 weeks in a row. Many Americans do not use all of their vacation days each year, even the vast majority who are promised only two weeks.

You probably know the problem with taking just one week. By the Friday before you start, you’ve worked all the hours you’re taking off in addition to your regular hours, just to cover everything that needs to be done while you’re away. That means you’ve already defeated the main purpose of taking vacation, which is to not have to work those hours. Through that first weekend, you’re still thinking about work, wondering if you got everything done and left enough instructions to co-workers who are covering for you. By Tuesday, you finally begin to relax and maybe you get all the way through lunch before you think about the office. Wednesday comes and you finally feel that you are truly on vacation.

Hooray for Thursday! Unless, of course, you get a call from work on the cell phone, while standing at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon trying to take in the most breathtaking sight you’ve ever seen (or while standing in your backyard repairing a fence post because one week wasn’t long enough to take a relaxing trip to the Grand Canyon so you stayed home to putter around the house).

Friday comes and you start to think about returning to work on Monday.

Here is the scenario for a two-week vacation: the first week is just like I described it above, except for Friday. That is the day you realize that when Monday comes, you’ll only be halfway through your vacation. You can calmly lean against the fence and contemplate the view from the El Tovar or the back of your yard. You’ve got another whole week!!!!

In my case, today is that Friday. I probably worked an extra two weeks of hours before my vacation began so everything would be covered while away. I brought one lingering writing project home and worked on it a few minutes at a time through this week between home projects, day trips and July 4th fireworks shows. But today is the Friday at the end of Week One, that work project is behind me, the cell phone is silent and I have ANOTHER WEEK OFF!

This is the part that made the advance work worth it. Next week will consist of more day trips, some do-it-yourself stuff at home, and almost nothing relating to work. Next Friday I’ll start thinking about returning to work, but I’ll be relaxed, refreshed and ready to dive in again. I’ll be more valuable to my employer, but more important than that, I’ll be more valuable to ME.