I just started a month-long leave from work for...exactly this reason, to the same year. Grinding it out for over a decade without stopping for even a full week of vacation catches up to you eventually.
I was hoping to feel recharged and energized after, but for me, it didn't help. Mostly due to having to deal with some mental health stuff with one of our kiddos. It's been exhausting.
Best I’ve found is to try and keep things at a slow burn. You’ll never really relax but you can try to reduce the stress peaks.
25 years later I use every bit of my PTO...every year. I'm in a much better mental state.
If your office says they can't run without you, tell them you can go away for a week at a time occasionally, or you could get hit by a car and be gone forever...shouldn't their process have a little resilience?
Just be wary of hitting a cap because then new PTO gets straight up _deleted_ with no recourse (had this happen to a report of mine).
"I've been working here 40 year and never took a day off!"
Is not the flex you think it is.
I mean, use PTO if you need it. That's what it's there for, but you don't lose it if you don't use it (unless you hit a cap like I mentioned). The old dude you talked to was wrong when he said "you're not taking that money". You lose nothing by hoarding PTO (unless you hit the cap) since it gets paid out if you resign or get fired.
>"I've been working here 40 year and never took a day off!" >Is not the flex you think it is.
Who said this or implied this?