Comments on: Planning a summer vacation can be a lot like cleaning your kitchen floor

By: Rosalind

Rosalind — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:10:13 +0000

Hooray for you, Mary. You figured out what didn’t work and made sure it’s not still happening. Great job. It’s not easy to do and sometimes - not possible to do alone. But most important, is to pay attention so you can act with intention!

By: Mary

Mary — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:00:46 +0000

I lived without a decent vacation for years because no one wanted to fully cover for me (or did not know how). I was working extra hard to prove that my illness did not get in the way of doing an impossible job. And I ended up doing myself in. I cried that first time a co-worker said that she would be happy to cover for me while I was on vacation. No one had ever done that before! Not even my boss had offered that-mainly becuase he was clueless about how to do anything in my work.

I have been doing short little vacations-3 day weekends, etc. But they do not refresh the way that a 2 week vacation does. I decided that I would never again work a job where people did not want to cover for me. And I will not allow the amount of sick time that I have used effect my eligibility for a vacation. As I am developing a new position, I am making certain that there are people who can cover for me.

mary

By: Erika23

Erika23 — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:52:39 +0000

Interesting because while searching the net I found your blog about of course i dont agree with everything but you have good points. thx for the info!

By: Rosalind

Rosalind — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:25:03 +0000

I also think there’s another elephant that often enters this room - and that is that no matter how you slice and dice it - even the most encouraging and kind co-workers can resent that a sick person needs time off or a different schedule.

By: Sherry

Sherry — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:05:36 +0000

Rosalind this is a great topic and your answer to Jenny offered a place for her to start a dialogue with her boss and to revisit her true feeling. I am learning and the longer I live the more I find this statement to be true, ‘a conversation about an subject with another person can shine a light and bring a new perspective to the surface’. Your ideas in your book offer ways to arrange for workloads to be rearranged or shared to complete work on time. Also ways to allow for a person who needs unexpected time off work to arrange with fellow workers to easy the load and make up work when you return. My experience has shown me that the unknown and ‘no plan to deal with the unexpected’ can be the elephant in the issue. Getting the job done when needed is what I have found employers want and expect. Vacation can be handled much the same way. I agree with you that rest and refreshing our energy and views is the reason to take a vacation. Making a long difficult trip does not refresh me and I find I cannot enjoy the place I visit. No matter where we live there are places with in a short distance we can relax and enjoy and a vacation can be simple and fun with out a difficult trip to get there.

By: Rosalind

Rosalind — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:33:17 +0000

Good question, Jenni. It’s true - that just thinking it should be so, doesn’t make it so. But as you probably no, there is no “secret” . Nor do I think there is ONE answer. This is the stuff I work on with clients when they get stuck. My first question for you is, so are you planning a vacation in spite of his attitude? My next question is: how do you know he thinks this and what have you done about it? At a certain point that only you can figure out, you have to do what you believe is right for you and act with intention - rather than feeling your making decisions are a defensive response… which only leaves you feeling more like you’re coming from behind and out of balance. Does that help?

By: Jenny Levinson

Jenny Levinson — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:02:11 +0000

I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment, but how do you explain this to people at work? My boss definitely doesn’t think I should be taking vacation when I am out so much do to my health, but sick days are definitely NOT a vacation! (This is in no way performance related — it seems to be an issue of “fairness” or something like that with my boss. With my colleagues, it’s the usual resentment issues we all deal with.) Plus, I have a family (including a young child). Is it fair to deprive them of a family vacation?

So, what’s the secret to taking vacation and not generating problems at work?