Importance of Work-Life Balance: 2 Ways to Extend Limited Vacation Days

The importance of work-life balance is definitely a hot topic among working professionals. One way to find the balance is to use all vacation time that is allotted to you. Seriously, don’t let any vacation, PTO, holiday time or whatever you want to call it go unused! We’ll discuss the importance of work-life balance and 2 ways to extend limited vacation days.

vacation

[vey-key-shuh n]

noun

1. a period of suspension of work, study or other activity, usually used for rest, recreation, or travel; recess or holiday

As corporate professionals, we often find that there are not enough hours in the day to complete the tasks at hand let alone make time for ourselves. Finding a work-life balance that works for you can be difficult as you are putting in the hours to climb the corporate ladder.

The interesting thing when you look at company policies, there is a built-in tool to help avoid the burnout that is so common in the workplace: paid time off! We’ll let you in on a secret, they don’t work unless you actually make the effort to use them!

“Don’t be so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”  -Dolly Parton

Using vacation days allows you to break away from the office and make some time to yourself. Now it’s important that you actually set those boundaries and take a break from conference calls and email while you are out. These tips for balancing travel and career can help. 

On the surface, it may feel like vacation days are limited to the standard 2-3 weeks or 10-15 days. We have found when considering the importance of work-life balance, maximizing the time we spend out of the office helps us achieve that balance. We regularly and strategically schedule our 15 days vacation to allow 30+ days of travel each year!

Here are the 2 key ways we extend limited vacation days throughout the year.

1. Create Long Weekends

The standard workweek is 5 days Monday through Friday. This leaves 2 days per week or 104 days per year that you can count towards vacation time! The importance of work-life balance for us means we need to utilize weekends effectively to create that balance.

Weekends are great opportunities to tag on one of your vacation days to extend the time. Getting appropriate rest and relaxation on the weekend helps to achieve that balance. Don’t underestimate the benefit of a recharging weekend. Examples can be staycations, weekend road trips or simply enjoying a night in.

2. Schedule During Holiday Weeks

In addition to the 15 days of vacation days, we get 10 holidays. We are now up to a total 25 days off work in addition to weekends per year.

A popular way to extend vacation days is to schedule them during a holiday week so you only have to use 3 or 4 days instead of 5.  As an example, most Americans in “corporate America” get the last Monday of May off for Memorial Day. By scheduling a vacation during that week, you can essentially tack on the weekends of either end for a total of 9 days of vacation while only using 4 days. This is a favorite way to extend vacation and how it’s possible to make a long international trip worthwhile.

Other Tips to Extend Vacations

While the 2 key tips on extending limited vacation are to effectively use weekends and holidays, there are other ways that can maximize the time and prioritize the importance of work-life balance with vacation.

• Take early or late flights. It sounds so simple but there is some sacrifice needed. We are known for taking the red-eye back on Monday morning. There have been several times when we arrive at midnight and need to report to the office in 7 hours. While it makes for a long Monday, the added break time at the destination is welcomed.
• Extend business trips. Already at another destination for work reasons? Stay through the weekend or go early. Chances are at least one of your flights will be conducted during working hours thus extending your time at a destination. It’s a great way to utilize the flight and/or hotel that your work will be paying for due to the work event.
• Create a traveling tradition. If you find that you are not making time for yourself, create a tradition so you are predictable. You know you will travel during a specific time and your co-workers will come to expect it. Doing this around holidays is a great time to create a tradition. We ALWAYS schedule vacations during 4th of July weeks and Labor Day weeks which are public US holidays.

The importance of work-life balance will always be present in the working world. Strategic planning of travel and vacations is one way we have found to recharge. It may sound strange but we’ve found that effective use of vacation actually makes us more productive and has contributed to our career success.

Share your tips on effective use of vacation in the comments!