WEBVTT - Vacations are productive

0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:06.400
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:13.640
<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:18.360
<v Speaker 1>This week, we'll be talking about vacations, strategies for making

0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:20.800
<v Speaker 1>the most of your time off and for handling work

0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:24.759
<v Speaker 1>during and afterwards. Today's tip, though, is a more fundamental

0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:28.600
<v Speaker 1>one that you should take a vacation. They don't have

0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:31.080
<v Speaker 1>to be expensive, and they don't have to be long,

0:00:31.920 --> 0:00:34.159
<v Speaker 1>but getting outside of your usual routine for a bit

0:00:34.240 --> 0:00:37.720
<v Speaker 1>can make life more memorable and make time feel richer

0:00:38.000 --> 0:00:42.639
<v Speaker 1>and fuller. Plus, in the long run, time off can

0:00:42.680 --> 0:00:47.080
<v Speaker 1>make you more productive during your time on. Every year,

0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:50.640
<v Speaker 1>various folks published statistics on how many vacation days people

0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:53.760
<v Speaker 1>leave on the table. There are lots of reasons for this.

0:00:54.120 --> 0:00:57.080
<v Speaker 1>Sometimes people have one bank of paid time off, and

0:00:57.400 --> 0:00:59.920
<v Speaker 1>if you have young kids, you might anticipate needing these

0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:03.400
<v Speaker 1>says sick days or to go to kid events. Planning

0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:06.880
<v Speaker 1>vacations can take time and effort, and when you're juggling

0:01:06.880 --> 0:01:09.640
<v Speaker 1>work in family schedules, it can feel like just one

0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:13.840
<v Speaker 1>more thing to do. Sometimes organizations make it challenging to

0:01:13.880 --> 0:01:18.600
<v Speaker 1>take vacation days. If everyone's stressed and overworked, it's hard

0:01:18.600 --> 0:01:22.560
<v Speaker 1>to ask colleagues to cover for us, and sometimes there's

0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:27.400
<v Speaker 1>something more psychological going on. If we take vacations, our

0:01:27.480 --> 0:01:31.160
<v Speaker 1>organizations will have to function in our absence, which means

0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:35.280
<v Speaker 1>that these organizations can function in our absence in an

0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:40.720
<v Speaker 1>uncertain world. That can feel worrisome to acknowledge. But if

0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:45.920
<v Speaker 1>any organization is dependent on one person, there's a problem.

0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:49.120
<v Speaker 1>People can get seriously sick, or get an extended jury

0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:52.320
<v Speaker 1>duty or something like that, and everyone will be forced

0:01:52.360 --> 0:01:55.680
<v Speaker 1>to cope. Best to figure out that people can cope

0:01:55.680 --> 0:01:59.800
<v Speaker 1>in a more positive situation. Plus, it's important to stand

0:01:59.840 --> 0:02:03.640
<v Speaker 1>up for ourselves to be honest. Work will take whatever

0:02:03.720 --> 0:02:06.600
<v Speaker 1>you give it. You have to decide how much to give,

0:02:07.160 --> 0:02:09.000
<v Speaker 1>because no one else is going to look out for

0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:12.440
<v Speaker 1>you in that way. One of my favorite scenes from

0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:16.000
<v Speaker 1>Cheryl Sandberg's book Leaned In came from when she was

0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:19.840
<v Speaker 1>working in a consulting office many years ago. Her office

0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:22.520
<v Speaker 1>manager told her that people left all the time because

0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:25.520
<v Speaker 1>they were burned out, and he could understand people not

0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:28.560
<v Speaker 1>liking the stress, the travel, or the hours, but what

0:02:28.680 --> 0:02:33.120
<v Speaker 1>bothered him is that everyone who left had unused vacation days.

0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:36.800
<v Speaker 1>He asked people to exert more control over their lives.

0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:39.480
<v Speaker 1>No one's going to give you permission to look out

0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:44.080
<v Speaker 1>for yourself. Sometimes you just need to be bold, or

0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:47.000
<v Speaker 1>at least think of it this way. If your organization

0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:49.840
<v Speaker 1>has gone to the trouble of hiring you and training you,

0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:54.560
<v Speaker 1>they'd probably prefer to keep you. Hiring people takes a

0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:57.960
<v Speaker 1>lot of work. Replacing you is going to be time

0:02:58.000 --> 0:03:02.080
<v Speaker 1>consuming and expensive. If the choice is you taking your

0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:06.480
<v Speaker 1>vacation days or you quitting, they'd probably prefer you to

0:03:06.560 --> 0:03:10.640
<v Speaker 1>take the vacation. If it's the expense or hassle of planning,

0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:14.320
<v Speaker 1>then get creative. Expenses can be kept in check by

0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:16.920
<v Speaker 1>using the time to visit friends or family members in

0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:20.919
<v Speaker 1>interesting places. For families, renting homes on verbo or through

0:03:20.960 --> 0:03:24.520
<v Speaker 1>Airbnb is often an economical choice. It means you can

0:03:24.520 --> 0:03:27.720
<v Speaker 1>eat simple breakfasts or lunches at the house rather than

0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:31.399
<v Speaker 1>in restaurants. If you don't like the planning, maybe delegate

0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:33.520
<v Speaker 1>this to a family member who does like to plan.

0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:36.560
<v Speaker 1>Or package tours can take the work out of this

0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:39.120
<v Speaker 1>for you. You sign up and then do whatever they

0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:41.600
<v Speaker 1>tell you to do. But the goal is to get

0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:45.040
<v Speaker 1>out of your normal routine for something every few months.

0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:49.040
<v Speaker 1>A lot of adult life becomes very similar day to day.

0:03:49.160 --> 0:03:52.240
<v Speaker 1>When we say where did the time go, what we

0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:55.920
<v Speaker 1>often mean is I don't remember where the time went,

0:03:56.760 --> 0:04:00.960
<v Speaker 1>and that's because we didn't do anything memorable. Vacations, by

0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:05.640
<v Speaker 1>their nature, bring new experiences, and these experiences create memories.

0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:09.480
<v Speaker 1>When we have more memories, we feel like time is

0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:15.480
<v Speaker 1>richer and more vast. Plus Like machines, we all need

0:04:15.600 --> 0:04:19.880
<v Speaker 1>time for scheduled maintenance. Downtime can rejuvenate us, or at

0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:23.480
<v Speaker 1>least differences can energize us. And yes, I say this

0:04:23.600 --> 0:04:26.760
<v Speaker 1>as a mother of four young children. My vacations tend

0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:30.599
<v Speaker 1>not to be terribly relaxing. I'm still doing that kind

0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:33.560
<v Speaker 1>of work, but being in a different place puts me

0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:37.080
<v Speaker 1>in a different mindset. Indeed, many of my book ideas

0:04:37.120 --> 0:04:39.279
<v Speaker 1>have come to me when I've put myself somewhere other

0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:43.880
<v Speaker 1>than my normal life. One early morning in July, for instance,

0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:46.159
<v Speaker 1>I was in Bar Harbor Main and I went for

0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:49.560
<v Speaker 1>a run. It was so pleasant and I had absolutely

0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:52.160
<v Speaker 1>nothing that I had to do next. All of a

0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:56.320
<v Speaker 1>sudden a phrase popped into my brain. I was off

0:04:56.400 --> 0:04:59.839
<v Speaker 1>the clock. Maybe I should write a book about that concept.

0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:03.440
<v Speaker 1>So I did, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have

0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:07.760
<v Speaker 1>thought about being off the clock without actually being off

0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:10.920
<v Speaker 1>the clock. I'm guessing that if you take some time

0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:13.920
<v Speaker 1>away from your routine, you'll come up with great ideas too,

0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:16.839
<v Speaker 1>or you'll have insights into how to shape your future

0:05:16.880 --> 0:05:19.200
<v Speaker 1>career or ways you'd like to spend your time in

0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:23.840
<v Speaker 1>the future. Those are all very productive outcomes. So if

0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:26.080
<v Speaker 1>you've got a vacation coming up in the next few months,

0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:31.359
<v Speaker 1>great celebrate that fact and spend some time today looking

0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:36.200
<v Speaker 1>forward to it. If not, get out the calendar and

0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:40.520
<v Speaker 1>start dreaming. Challenge yourself to take at least a long weekend.

0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:45.279
<v Speaker 1>I'm pretty sure you won't consider it wasted time. In

0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:49.200
<v Speaker 1>the meantime, This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's

0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:58.159
<v Speaker 1>to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd

0:05:58.200 --> 0:06:00.640
<v Speaker 1>love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,

0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:04.400
<v Speaker 1>your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,

0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:09.480
<v Speaker 1>Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b E

0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:14.280
<v Speaker 1>the number four then Breakfast p O D. You can

0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:17.880
<v Speaker 1>also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcast at

0:06:17.880 --> 0:06:20.880
<v Speaker 1>i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled

0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:23.520
<v Speaker 1>out with all the letters. Thanks so much. I look

0:06:23.560 --> 0:06:31.920
<v Speaker 1>forward to Staying in Touch Before Breakfast is a production

0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:35.400
<v Speaker 1>of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from i heart Radio,

0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:39.400
<v Speaker 1>visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:40.800
<v Speaker 1>you listen to your favorite shows.