Why Taking Your PTO is Important
Hey fellow Girl Gang listeners! I’m writing from sunny Florida this month and I figured this would be a good time to remind you that the year is going by fast so remember to take your PTO. We’ve talked multiple times on our podcast that having work-life balance is important. But actually scheduling and taking the time off is a different story. My partner and I are even terrible at this. We’ve talked about Hawaii and Italy this year and because we are busy, we are opting for Florida and a national park instead. It’s really easy to say you will always plan it and will make the time, but it’s easy to never finalize those plans.
A lot of people think that if you take PTO, you won’t seem dedicated to your job. If your organization makes you feel that way, then you need to work for a different company. Also, if you take your PTO and your company reaches out to you and makes you work, then that is something you have to decide if that needs to be a boundary or not. For instance, my partner is a lawyer so he gets paid to actually be available at any time as needed and therefore needs to check his email often. That’s probably been the hardest part of dating him. I just tell him to shut it off - he says he gets paid double what I make to be on call at any given time…I can’t blame him for that. Even in his yearly review they said, “it would be nice if you could work more evenings and weekends”….I thought that was bullshit but that’s also why I’m not a lawyer. Thankfully on this trip so far, he’s only had to respond to a few items and we’ve gotten a lot of quality time together. Me personally, I do not have any work items on my phone unless I am specifically traveling for work. I will add my email, calendar, and Slack to my phone when I am traveling for work, but otherwise it’s completely deleted off my phone. In the three years that I’ve worked at my company, I have never once logged in or been contacted by my employer during my time off (well, I was contact once by my boss just to give me a heads up on an org change that was happening but told me not to worry and he would fill me in when I returned) - which I value tremendously and makes me that much more dedicated to my company.
Taking PTO is not only a benefit that your job gives you, but it’s also a way to reconnect with yourself, your friends, family, and hobbies. My partner and I live together, but time away together gives us an opportunity to really step away from the stress of our jobs and spend quality time together. I wouldn’t necessarily say that this vacation has been “relaxing” because we’ve done things everyday since we’ve been here, but it’s energizing in a way that makes me feel like our relationship is stronger than ever. We have also been down here with his mom and of course spending more time with her is always good because they are close. I even asked her if she would bring her scrapbooking materials so we could work on that together this week. Why might you ask? Well, about three years ago, my friend Dan said that he adds a few pictures to a scrapbook to capture all the memories from all his trips he takes. I liked that idea so I wanted to start doing that as well. I bought the scrapbook probably three years ago and have never added anything to this book…until this week! Which is where my next point comes in.
Use your vacation to reconnect with your hobbies! I have wanted to work on this scrapbook for YEARS but haven’t, always finding something more important than working on it. Now that she’s brought all these scrapbook materials down here and I get to go through all these photos of all my adventures the past few years, I’m energized to keep going. I have traveled SO MUCH these past few years compared to…well my life up until 2021. So there are lots of memories to capture and revisit while I am working on this book. I also brought my sketchbook with me, which I haven’t quite opened up yet, but I have gotten some good photos and thoughts on how I want to approach some of my new sketches when I’m feeling inspired to open that journal again. Finally, I decided to start reading a new book series on this vacation: Fourth Wing. I know people have been obsessing about it for awhile now, so I wanted to check it out. I literally read the whole first book in about three days and I have the other two books with me still. We shall see how far I read before we get back to good ol’ Missouri.
Take your PTO, spend time with the people you love, reconnect with your hobbies. You only get one life - why not spend it on the beach for a few days?
Happy relaxing,
Rach
