Dear Classy Career Girl, I’m given paid time off at my work (vacation, personal, sick days), but I am always afraid to ask to take time off. I feel a little bit guilty when I take off and last year ended up not using several of my days. My boss usually doesn’t care, but I still feel weird asking. I want to have fun while I’m young, but still keep respect at my job and let my boss know that I care about. Is it normal to feel guilty for taking a day off every few weeks? Thanks! Ambitious Young Professional
Dear Ambitious – Wow, can I relate! It is hard for me to take time off as well. Many of us are guilty of working really hard and not resting. We have a tendency to make work our number one priority and put a wall between our work and personal lives. But, if you don’t take any time off for yourself, you won’t be able to recharge and you will quickly burn out. You have to find the middle ground. If you take too much time off work, it looks bad. If you don’t take any time off work, you look like you have no personal life. Taking time off is good for you! Many times when I come back from a vacation I actually do my job better because I am much more rested.
So no, don’t feel guilty asking for time off. The more you ask for time off, the more comfortable you will get and the more your boss will expect it. Your boss and co-workers will learn how to handle the workload without you. But, if you are always there and never give anyone else the opportunity to learn what you do, you will find it extremely hard to plan a relaxing and enjoyable day off.
Here is what I suggest:
- Mark it on the calendar. Plan ahead and let your boss and everyone around know the days you are planning to take off.
- Be as flexible as you can. If something crazy comes up at work last minute, show your boss that you are willing to come in or be available by phone if he needs anything. I know it sounds terrible but it will make your boss and co-workers feel a lot better about you leaving. It is also a great way to show them that you care about your job. Most of the time you won’t be needed anyways!
- Take time off when it is slow. For me, Fridays are extremely slow so that is when I usually take days off.
- Take time off to improve yourself. Even if you don’t have a big vacation planned, take time off to improve yourself by going to school, taking a training class or attending a networking event. These events will show your boss that you want to improve yourself and succeed at the company.
Work cannot be our entire lives. We must spend time with family and friends and do the things that we really enjoy. This makes us better workers in the long run. Now go ask for a day off!
Note: Today’s post written in association with Total Jobs where you can find environment jobs, charity jobs and engineering jobs. (photo from here)
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Great blog, as usual. Definitely do NOT feel guilty about taking time off. I’ve learned one thing over the years – I have to take care of ME first. The bosses take time off, so why shouldn’t we?
Thanks Missy! I have learned the same thing. I definitely didn’t take care of myself when I first started in the professional world and NEVER took any days off just for myself. I would take a vacation here and there but now I have realized that I just need to take days off to do absolutely nothing. That way I can do what I want to do and actually relax and enjoy my day off!
This is soooo timely!! I’m leaving for a week’s vacation on Saturday (in Mexico) and I feel so guilty and also so…stressed that something bad will happen and my boss will be resentful towards me for not being there!
Jill-Have so much fun in Mexico! I am so jealous! I love when timing works out so well like this!
I really struggled with this when I took a medical leave earlier this year. To me it just seemed like no one else in our department was taking any time off and that was somewhat unnerving. Knowing that I had done my best to take care of my responsibilities helped me relax.
Missy’s got it right though — we need to take care of our needs first before we can take care of anyone or anything else.
Amen! We can take care of other people once we take care of ourselves! Love it! Thanks for the comment!
Sarah-Great point to make sure you take care of all of your responsibilities before you take off for leave! I should have included that in the post. Another great recommendation is to send your team a list of things that you are working on and where you are at if you haven’t finished with them. This will let everyone know what you were working on in case questions come up! Thanks for the comment!
What’s wrong with me? I never feel guilty about taking time off. My boss is super cool about it and she takes time off too, so there you go.
That’s awesome! I think we all get there eventually after a few years of working and seeing our bosses take A LOT of leave.
Thanks for commenting!
“Work cannot be our entire lives.”
That says it all!
SO TRUE!! If you take one thing away from this post, that is definitely a good takeaway! Thanks for the reminder and for the comment!
I love “take time off when it is slow.” Holidays tend to be a good time for this because everyone is gone as it is! The downside is that you can also get a lot of work done while it’s slow and there’s no one around to pester you
Ashley
Our company encourages us to file our leaves and go on vacation. They tell us repeatedly that taking a vacation can help us de-stress. Before, I don’t take my leaves much but now, I plan and see to it that I at least have 1 or 2 days off every month to relax and breathe from my work.
I feel the exact same way! I just started at my new job in June, and I’ve been given 8 days for the rest of the year off (we usually get three weeks per year), and I haven’t wanted to take those. It’s like I keep saving them for something, until I realize that I deserve those for a long weekend as much as I do for a long vacation. I just feel very anxious taking time off, which is weird because at college, I had time off all the time! This article reiterated the fact that I deserve this and need to do it!! Thank you
This would be fantastic advice if I had such a problem. Rather, I tend to feel bad about the life I’m missing while at work!
Haha! Me too! Definitely love my vacations too!
Thanks for commenting!