Benoit J - My mostly tech blog

Proof it's Always a Good Time to Take Vacation

2020-12-24

No matter what managers or you think

No matter what managers or you think, work is never a good reason to wait for your vacation!

And I can prove it!

The proof

Lets start with some facts:

  1. vacation is good for you, for your mental health
  2. vacation is good for your employer, a well rested person is more likely to be motivated, and more productive
  3. we are smart and can plan some time ahead
  4. In many places, you loose rights to vacation each year, sometimes above a threshold. Yeah, they may pay you instead. But at one point, money has less benefit than facts 1 and 2

Impediments to take your vacation:

  1. you. sometimes we are our own impediment to take vacation
  2. in some jobs, it’s seems like it’s never a good time to take vacation. There is always something coming up
  3. Some managers constantly ask you to move your vacation, or skip it

Now the proof:

  1. managers that ask you to constantly make compromise only think about short term $$, has poor planning ability, and does not think about long term sustainability. I certainly would not trust that manager.
  2. If it’s never a good time to take vacation, therefore it’s always a good time to take your vacation
  3. if you always think of staying because “what will they do without me”, see vacation as an investment in you and your family. If you work can’t survive without you, maybe this is a hint around planning or too low bus factor.

For all these reasons, if you plan a bit ahead of time, vacation is “FYI”, not “can I”.

I would not trust a company or manager that ask me to make unreasonable compromise to my vacation, or ask my colleagues the same. It would be enough for me to seek for a new job.

I obviously apply this based on my own experience in IT and R&D jobs, but I strongly believe it applies to all fields with some tweaks (on some jobs, you cant all go on vacation at the same time, union jobs have special rules).

I’ve seen friends suffering from this situation.

I’m in no way in this situation, actually quite the opposite, he’s asking us to take time off.

I thought about making this post on my first day of vacation, thinking maybe others may make unreasonable compromise.

Happy and safe Holidays!

This is day 18 of my #100DaysToOffload. You can read more about the challenge here: https://100daystooffload.com.

Lets see if I can make it to 20 before year end :D