PR Myth: Vacation days are for slackers

“I’ve only taken five vacation days in the past 18 months,” I humble-bragged in a small team meeting years ago.

My boss and coworker didn’t say a word, but the looks on their faces clearly communicated: “That’s on you, idiot. Vacation days are there for a reason!”

My vain attempts to be hardcore were even dumber than you think – that job had a very liberal vacation policy, and I had 28 days unused!

My misplaced belief that working more days than I’d agreed to would get me ahead seems to be common in PR.

Muck Rack’s new State of Work-Life Balance in PR study found:

• The average PR pro leaves five vacation days on the table each year.
• Even worse, 48% have allowed a vacation to be interrupted by work three or more times in the last year.

I’ve been vocal in my encouragement to be fully engaged at work. And I believe just as strongly you’re more effective after you make a clean break to recharge and refresh. Taking time off isn’t cheating your employer – it improves their ROI in you as an employee.

The summer after that fateful convo with my boss and coworker, I stood on a rickety wooden platform on a small island in a Maine lake, holding a knotted rope.

When I jumped, the rope swung me down toward the dirt, then arced up over the water. I let go at the apex and hung in the air for a split second.

That moment was the first time in years my mind was completely present, unstressed by work or anything else. When I surfaced from the cold water, I was almost a new person.

I remember this vividly because I documented it in my first email back at work. I sent it to my project contact, because with my new mindset, I expected him to be happy for me and assume I’d be better equipped to finish the project. Before I’d have worried he was ticked I’d been gone.

Seeing your peer’s vacation patterns may help you reach this headspace sooner than I did.

Download the State of Work-Life Balance in PR report and get more inspiration for managing your lifestyle. It includes:

• top stress sources in PR
• average hours worked per week, and times worked “after hours”
• mental health support levels
• and the ever-popular salary survey results

If you didn’t get a great vacay this summer, there’s still time! Make the long weekend even longer and make yourself a better PR pro in the process.