We lack good systems for taking time off
We lack good systems for taking time off
Can we ever truly step away from work?
This past weekend, I took some time off. I had a trip planned to Harry Potter World in Florida with my oldest son. A winter storm rolled through Chicagoland on Saturday so in an effort to avoid it, we changed our flight and left a day early. Which left me frantically packing a mere 12 hours before we needed to head to the airport.
I forgot my laptop charger. I wasn't planning on doing client work, but as a self-employed person, I like to keep other parts of my business moving. I wake up early every morning (usually around 4:00 a.m.) and write. I'll work on scheduling social posts. I'll write an article for Medium or this publication. I'll reply to business-related emails — if only to let people know that I'll follow up with a more detailed response when I return.
Without my laptop charger, I was limited. I could do a few things per day, max. I watched the battery quickly drain to nothing. I thought about using my son's school Chromebook, but he can't share Google Docs or send emails outside of the school domain.
But those things I mentioned... those are my choice. They're things I enjoy (for the most part) and don't mind doing, even when I'm trying to step away from work.
When I worked for employers, it was a lot different. If I was taking PTO, I wanted to truly step away. As in, "Don't bother me; I'll see you when I get back." Was that always possible? Nope. I worked for small companies. Sometimes I was the only person who knew how to do my job.
It's a problem for most companies, large and small. You take time away from work and return to a pile of accumulated work.
Coverage is a joke
The two biggest problems that companies have with PTO coverage are:
1) Proper redundancy so that other people can take over the person's duties while they're gone
2) Determining how to temporarily reduce the workload so the people providing coverage aren't overworked
I've only worked for one employer that did this well. In advance of my PTO, I made a list of my responsibilities: everything that needed to be handled while I was gone and what could be reasonably "skipped" or put on hold until I got back.
My other two employers were terrible about coverage. Both had variations of "source your own coverage" — meaning each employee had to beg for support from their colleagues. It was touted as, "This is your responsibility; you need to take ownership of your work."
But that's a terrible mentality. These were employees, not managers. They shouldn't have to rely on the good graces of their colleagues to take time off. One of my colleagues never took vacation time because he was afraid to ask his counterpart for help. Yet the peer (the senior employee in the department) regularly took time off, often without much notice.
When my middle son was born, my husband took three weeks off of work. When he returned, his employer said, "We got nothing done while you were gone, so can you work late and get caught up?"
Not only does this negate taking time off, for any reason, but it also makes people feel guilty. Like they're burdening their peers. Or that they should "check in" while on vacation to avoid an avalanche of problems when they return.
Companies need to build supportive systems so people feel free to take time off when needed.
Set boundaries for yourself
Often, you might feel trapped in your PTO situation.
You can't force your company to properly plan.
But you can — gently — enforce your own boundaries.
If there's no coverage, you can let your manager know, in advance, that you'll get caught up at a reasonable pace upon your return. You won't be working an insane number of hours to do so. Otherwise, you didn't really have any paid time off. If that's a problem, the company should plan for someone to help with your responsibilities while you're gone.
You can help teammates who are covering for you by making a mental note of what can "slide" during your time off. Not everything is urgent or a priority — you don't need to hand over every single task to someone else. Some things might just... not get done. And the world will keep spinning.
If you need to, delete work apps from your phone. Get rid of Slack. Turn off work emails.
But also decide what's important for you. And don't let anyone tell you that you MUST unplug from everything in order to recharge, especially if you're self-employed. If completely unplugging causes you anxiety, that's not really a break.
Just don't let your employer push you into doing more than you want to do: it should be your decision.
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