Do or not do: take time off if you can't go on vacation

Maybe I just texted the customer service of Transavia. Maybe I wanted to check if I would still get a voucher, because all those sneaky insurers (yes you, yes) suddenly changed the cancellation conditions for a possible second wave of corona. But of course, you don't need to go on vacation to take time off.

The arguing about vacation days between employer and employee probably started around April 6, after the second half we got an extension of measures and the vacation days piled up diligently. Anna from Finance's round trip didn't go through, just like Imane from Marketing's weekend getaway and Steve from Production's sun vacation also got canceled. And what do you do then? Work. At least I do, and I've hardly been able to find anyone who wanted to take a ‘nice’ week off during our intelligent lockdown.

But what turns out? You actually need to take those days off, even if you don't go anywhere. A person needs vacation days to recharge. An evening of doing nothing or lounging on the weekend is not enough to recover. Not even if you work from home. Research from the US Travel Association even shows that you are more successful if you go on vacation more often. Well, do you need just one more reason to take time off? I thought so too.

My last week off without going away was almost four years ago. The fact that I still remember this and that I even remember what I did that week says something. I confiscated our guest dog and the big lounging could begin. Strolling on the beach (it was September with a steady 25 degrees). A five-hour terrace session with my favorite colleague (that at least). Finishing a book in one day on the balcony. Drinking on Tuesday. Sleeping in on Wednesday. Trying on clothes in a physical store with doors and windows and shopping with friends. When I think back to it now, it was actually one big party. Why don't I do this more often?

Jessica de Bloom, author of The Art of Taking a Vacation, tells Volkskrant that taking time off makes you a nicer person. Stress arises from not having enough time off, and due to stress, you start cutting back on friendly behavior towards colleagues and voilà: suddenly you are the hellion of the workplace. You don't want that.

What is the guideline for the minimum number of vacation days? You can roughly adhere to four times your workweek. With a full-time job, you end up with at least four weeks off per year, but the average boss in the Netherlands keeps 25.6 days.

I read on NSMBL that the trick is to plan something on your day off (because structuring a day off turns out to be good) that you normally don't do. Well, my sketch for the hot tub in the garden is ready. I have a list of one-and-a-half-meter restaurants to reserve within cycling distance. If going on a trip is not an option, then we will transform our backyard into Playa del Achtertuinos and go precisely nowhere.

Source: Volkskrant, NSMBL