1 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,080 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,360 Speaker 1: This week, we'll be talking about vacations, strategies for making 4 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:20,800 Speaker 1: the most of your time off and for handling work 5 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:24,759 Speaker 1: during and afterwards. Today's tip, though, is a more fundamental 6 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 1: one that you should take a vacation. They don't have 7 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: to be expensive, and they don't have to be long, 8 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:34,159 Speaker 1: but getting outside of your usual routine for a bit 9 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:37,720 Speaker 1: can make life more memorable and make time feel richer 10 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:42,639 Speaker 1: and fuller. Plus, in the long run, time off can 11 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:47,080 Speaker 1: make you more productive during your time on. Every year, 12 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: various folks published statistics on how many vacation days people 13 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 1: leave on the table. There are lots of reasons for this. 14 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 1: Sometimes people have one bank of paid time off, and 15 00:00:57,400 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 1: if you have young kids, you might anticipate needing these 16 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: says sick days or to go to kid events. Planning 17 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:06,880 Speaker 1: vacations can take time and effort, and when you're juggling 18 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: work in family schedules, it can feel like just one 19 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:13,840 Speaker 1: more thing to do. Sometimes organizations make it challenging to 20 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: take vacation days. If everyone's stressed and overworked, it's hard 21 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 1: to ask colleagues to cover for us, and sometimes there's 22 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:27,400 Speaker 1: something more psychological going on. If we take vacations, our 23 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: organizations will have to function in our absence, which means 24 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 1: that these organizations can function in our absence in an 25 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:40,720 Speaker 1: uncertain world. That can feel worrisome to acknowledge. But if 26 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 1: any organization is dependent on one person, there's a problem. 27 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:49,120 Speaker 1: People can get seriously sick, or get an extended jury 28 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 1: duty or something like that, and everyone will be forced 29 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:55,680 Speaker 1: to cope. Best to figure out that people can cope 30 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 1: in a more positive situation. Plus, it's important to stand 31 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:03,640 Speaker 1: up for ourselves to be honest. Work will take whatever 32 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: you give it. You have to decide how much to give, 33 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:09,000 Speaker 1: because no one else is going to look out for 34 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 1: you in that way. One of my favorite scenes from 35 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 1: Cheryl Sandberg's book Leaned In came from when she was 36 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:19,840 Speaker 1: working in a consulting office many years ago. Her office 37 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:22,520 Speaker 1: manager told her that people left all the time because 38 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:25,520 Speaker 1: they were burned out, and he could understand people not 39 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: liking the stress, the travel, or the hours, but what 40 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:33,120 Speaker 1: bothered him is that everyone who left had unused vacation days. 41 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:36,800 Speaker 1: He asked people to exert more control over their lives. 42 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 1: No one's going to give you permission to look out 43 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:44,080 Speaker 1: for yourself. Sometimes you just need to be bold, or 44 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: at least think of it this way. If your organization 45 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:49,840 Speaker 1: has gone to the trouble of hiring you and training you, 46 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:54,560 Speaker 1: they'd probably prefer to keep you. Hiring people takes a 47 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:57,960 Speaker 1: lot of work. Replacing you is going to be time 48 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:02,080 Speaker 1: consuming and expensive. If the choice is you taking your 49 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:06,480 Speaker 1: vacation days or you quitting, they'd probably prefer you to 50 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:10,640 Speaker 1: take the vacation. If it's the expense or hassle of planning, 51 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: then get creative. Expenses can be kept in check by 52 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:16,920 Speaker 1: using the time to visit friends or family members in 53 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:20,919 Speaker 1: interesting places. For families, renting homes on verbo or through 54 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 1: Airbnb is often an economical choice. It means you can 55 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: eat simple breakfasts or lunches at the house rather than 56 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:31,399 Speaker 1: in restaurants. If you don't like the planning, maybe delegate 57 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:33,520 Speaker 1: this to a family member who does like to plan. 58 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 1: Or package tours can take the work out of this 59 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:39,120 Speaker 1: for you. You sign up and then do whatever they 60 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 1: tell you to do. But the goal is to get 61 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: out of your normal routine for something every few months. 62 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: A lot of adult life becomes very similar day to day. 63 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:52,240 Speaker 1: When we say where did the time go, what we 64 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: often mean is I don't remember where the time went, 65 00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: and that's because we didn't do anything memorable. Vacations, by 66 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: their nature, bring new experiences, and these experiences create memories. 67 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 1: When we have more memories, we feel like time is 68 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: richer and more vast. Plus Like machines, we all need 69 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: time for scheduled maintenance. Downtime can rejuvenate us, or at 70 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:23,480 Speaker 1: least differences can energize us. And yes, I say this 71 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: as a mother of four young children. My vacations tend 72 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:30,599 Speaker 1: not to be terribly relaxing. I'm still doing that kind 73 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:33,560 Speaker 1: of work, but being in a different place puts me 74 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 1: in a different mindset. Indeed, many of my book ideas 75 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:39,279 Speaker 1: have come to me when I've put myself somewhere other 76 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:43,880 Speaker 1: than my normal life. One early morning in July, for instance, 77 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:46,159 Speaker 1: I was in Bar Harbor Main and I went for 78 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: a run. It was so pleasant and I had absolutely 79 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:52,160 Speaker 1: nothing that I had to do next. All of a 80 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 1: sudden a phrase popped into my brain. I was off 81 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,839 Speaker 1: the clock. Maybe I should write a book about that concept. 82 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:03,440 Speaker 1: So I did, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have 83 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:07,760 Speaker 1: thought about being off the clock without actually being off 84 00:05:07,839 --> 00:05:10,920 Speaker 1: the clock. I'm guessing that if you take some time 85 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:13,920 Speaker 1: away from your routine, you'll come up with great ideas too, 86 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:16,839 Speaker 1: or you'll have insights into how to shape your future 87 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 1: career or ways you'd like to spend your time in 88 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:23,840 Speaker 1: the future. Those are all very productive outcomes. So if 89 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: you've got a vacation coming up in the next few months, 90 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:31,359 Speaker 1: great celebrate that fact and spend some time today looking 91 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 1: forward to it. If not, get out the calendar and 92 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:40,520 Speaker 1: start dreaming. Challenge yourself to take at least a long weekend. 93 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:45,279 Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure you won't consider it wasted time. In 94 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: the meantime, This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's 95 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:58,159 Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd 96 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:00,640 Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips, 97 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:04,400 Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, 98 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:09,480 Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b E 99 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:14,280 Speaker 1: the number four then Breakfast p O D. You can 100 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:17,880 Speaker 1: also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcast at 101 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 1: i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled 102 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:23,520 Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much. I look 103 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:31,920 Speaker 1: forward to Staying in Touch Before Breakfast is a production 104 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:35,400 Speaker 1: of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from i heart Radio, 105 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:39,400 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 106 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.