Why is that bucolic scene sitting empty? Because Americans are refusing to take their time—vacation time, sick time, family leave time, PTO, etc!

Our lovely local newspaper has been publishing articles pushing people to take their time off, dang it. And why not? We’re rich! While one story today announced that Americans now over over $1T in credit card debt, the flip side of that coin is this stunning factoid: We also have hundreds of millions of unused paid time off (AKA PTO).

• Making time for what matters

Those 5 words may best summarize what BreakAway is all about. And really, if your employer gives you the gift of time, you’re not even really making it. You’re just not taking it. Which brings us to a longer variation of our $1m tagline:

• Making and TAKING time for what matters MOST

Free time matters MOST! Mr. Johnson outlines some common-sense savvy on how to BreakAway from the vocation and find that vacation…we’ll honor those. But first, here are some convincing details about the profundity of the need…

• We mentioned: 100s of millions of FREE days go unspent and often, lost.

• Nearly ½ of employees don’t take all their days. (Pew)

• As burnout rates keep rising, 2/3 of workers say time off is the cure. (Aflac)

• Numerous studies prove that more R&R leads to less heart attacks, depression, etc.

• Worried about keeping up? WRONG! Performance rates actually rise with time off. (E&Y)

• Dream therapy: Even the planning and anticipation of time off lowers stress. (AAA)

• R&R also clearly lowers stress. Which improves job attendance, performance, longevity. I mean…Sure, bosses want hard workers, but not sick (or dead!) ones.

• Some ways to maximize your getaway potential

Over-achievers are always welcome, right? Well then, let’s look at ways to also achieve our potential as well-rounded, we’ll-rested relaxation renegades…

• Extend holidays. 3-day weekend? Make it 4, 5, 6, or 7!

• Seek staycations. Simplify the logistics and hunker down in your bed or hammock.

• Maximize mental health days. Maybe you need it; or perhaps your parents or kids need your help. Don’t be shy. In fact, why not sneak in a narcissism day!?!

• Avoid saving up your sickness days. Oh sure, you may need them worse later. But if you stay well rested and recreation-ed, you’re less likely to get sick!

• Shop for another way to be away. As employers gradually broaden their offerings, ask about family leave, volunteer days, and bereavement. (Use that bereavement day to lament the lost days off you may have missed in your lifetime.)

• SUB: It’s never too late to dream on

However you motivate yourself, put it to work! On BreakAways, not…work! Keep a fantasy file? Watch travel shows? Challenge yourself to (at least) one getaway per month? Say YES to invites that come your way? Visit those long-lost (and maybe aging) friends and relatives. Take off with that camera, guitar or other once-vital hobby.

I know, I know…it’s easy for me to say. While I HAVE worked hard (and sometimes still do), I’ve excelled at…Making and taking time for what matters most.

Please join me. Wherever we’re going. Hope to see you there…

Yes, it’s October. But no, that’s not a Halloween display. Rather, that pic offers just another gravestone and view from another idyllic island.

15 years ago, my kids got a gift they’ll never forget…or regret. 69 days of island hopping through 5 islands in the Caribbean. They got HOME-SCHOOLED! “Hardest math teacher ever!” they both told me. Often. And (otherwise) had the splash of a lifetime.  My son kept an online blog…A+!

One stopover was St. Vincent, as described and photographed in that there MYBA link. St. Vinny is an oft-overlooked Grenadine isle rich with mountains, authenticity, and perhaps a bit too much crime and pot growing (on those fertile mountain slopes). That keeps it quiet and off the snowbird migration routes.

Scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean were filmed there. Prices stayed delightfully on the low side. And the organic F&V were so plentiful that St. Vincent provides for many islands around them; farmer’s markets are filled with aggressive peddlers who send you home with more edible booty than you can carry. For about $20.

This photo was from a high-point stopover; cemeteries are often small and neighborhoody. This gent certainly has a fine view to decompose in.

• Every Autumn I fall back…

Fall has arrived in MN. After a long, luxurious summer, we now simmer in darkening daze, fleece everything, and the promise of, oh, 7 months of same or worse before we kick off boots and slip on flip-flops. Unless, of course, one finds a way to plan a warm, faraway getaway!

Would I return to St. Vincent? In a heartbeat, in an island-hopper plane, or even—if I could swing it—hidden in a coffin…if it came to that.

Stay warm. Dream an epic dream. And keep the faith…

The 9-5 weekday workweek is fading away like a fine drive.

Golf in America has been through many, uh, rounds. Up, down, in, out, back again. But since Covid, people are spending more time on the links than ever. And much of it is on weekdays—when workers used to wallow in cubicles, not strut on greens.

It brings new meaning to work/life hacking!

• Stanford study + geolocation proves the putt-point

Stanford and others have dug into the dirt on the golfing renaissance, with astounding findings like this…

• 278% more people are playing golf on Wednesdays at 4pm than before C-19

• In Cali, visits have almost doubled on TU, W, and TH

• Weekday rec goes beyond golf, and includes gyms, malls, tennis, hair, more

I remember golf booming—along with camping, bonfires, and other outdoor activities—during that lonely pandy period. Heck, I golfed plenty myself, and often with my children who were unexpectedly stuck at home. Heaven! (Even if my golf skills can include ill whiffs.)

But will this last, I wondered? Maybe so! Why? Because people are taking their time back!

• Daybreak trend soars beyond the course

Lisa M. Kreiger’s article (San Jose Mercury News) also tells of lunches, dates, bike rides, family outings, and more happening on what used to be strictly Company Time. We at BreakAway practically weep with joy (as opposed to our tears on the course) that folks are taking their shot at prioritizing what matters.

And guess what? The economy is doing just fine, thank you.

Have we really redefined that delicate but often brutal work/life balance scale?

“It’s the little things, like having lunch with my husband on the back patio.”

~ Tina, Project Manager

• What goes around becomes a round (Insert eyeroll emoji)

Way back in history, like, maybe only 100 years ago, before the industrial revolution (and later, the corporation/office-obsession explosion), people got their work done on their own schedules and terms. Think: Farmers. If that’s really happening again, we BreakAway mavens may be out of work soon.

Except…most people still work too hard and too often hit their most coveted long-term travel dreams into the rough. So we’ll keep preaching what we practice. And practicing what we preach.

Getting your life back? Good for you. Wanna escape to Thailand for 3 months…maybe check out their golf courses?

Hey, you’ve gone from all-day sales meetings to teeing off on Tuesday afternoon. So why not give it a shot!?!

Can you even imagine how a reduction in work hours would pep up employees?

As BreakAway’s ReWorking series continues to examine how US working norms transform in a (post?) pandemic world, today we look at how the 32-hour week has been gaining a smidgen of traction. This news comes courtesy of NerdWallet, probably the best financial advice source out there.

Just ask any FA; they’ll direct you away from their firm’s website and send you straight to the $ Nerds!

• A Cali bill, a nonprofit foundation, + employer test kitchens

The 4-day week has its cheerleaders. In California, the legislature recently kicked it around, and likely will again. Elsewhere, nonprofit 4 Day Week Global promotes the concept out of Oxford University—and has launched some pilot programs with courageous companies worldwide. And when surveyed, 92% of US employees respond they support the idea, with 79% believing it would help their mental health, while 82% even claim it would make them more productive.

• But oh, the obstacles…

Yet the questions fly around like irksome flies in August. Most of them are obvious, and might make any CEO lose his lunch…

• What would customers and clients think—would service & sales suffer?

• Who would tend to your emails/texts/zooms/meetings?

• How could this work in a 24/7 plugged-in world?

• Would the time reduction = a pay reduction? If so, who wants that?

• Might this mean 4 10-hour workdays, and how would daycare and other support systems feel? (And could the dog hold its pee/poop?)

• As always, alternatives abound

NerdWallet and the experts quoted are quick to point toward ways to get some relief if the #32 still lacks magic. Of course, we’ve been preaching about them here for years. But for the sake of reminders, consider these common-sense salves: Take extended weekend BreakAways; try meeting-less Fridays; schedule time periods that are telepressure-free; prioritize at least a few hours a day that are completely work-unplugged.

Will the 4-day week become a thing? Probably not in our lifetime. And yet, I know many folks who have made similar custom arrangements—because they have the power to call shots, they are in family-intense years, or just have a savvy and collegial employer. They offer role-model inspiration and hope.

Year-round 3-day weekends, everyone? Keep the drum thumping and, as always…

Keep the faith.

Work is important, and sometimes sweet. But bosses-to-be need to recognize that savvy employees need Big Breaks too—whether to handle life’s adversity or to savor some serendipity.

Earlier this week, FC published (what some might call) a paradigm-shifting article, “What’s Behind the Employment Gap?” They outline 14 approaches from 14 HR mavens about how to approach discussing career breaks in an interviewee’s resume—and the interviews that follow.

While short on overall analysis, the loud-and-clear upshot is that times have changed. Major league. The pandemic shook up the work world in unpredictable and unprecedented ways. But the Great Resignation that is sweeping the career world seems to have shifted much of the balance of power away from the Big Shots and into the ready arms of the Real People.

Here are some highlights shared by these HR authorities…

• “PTO may be a sign of maturity.” (2 words: Thank you!) {8 more words: Maybe working nonstop for 45 years is not!}

• A perspective boss may be curious and appreciate a way to address the gap, but, as one pundit puts it, “It truly isn’t any of my business.”

• Maybe time off now is the norm, not the exception. Brilliant: Have you heard about raising children? Is there any engaged parent who hasn’t needed time to make that arduous adjustment? Did you know that in Europe both new parents may get up to 6 months off? Are you aware that our sluggish congress someday may legally mandate Family Leave?

• Give them the benefit of the doubt. And while you’re at it, “Find out what they gained from the experience.”

• Don’t label it a shortfall. In fact, why not, “Frame it as an opportunity for learning and growth.”

• And finally…Consider the candidate’s maturity level. “No personal path or career path is straight.” LIFE happens. And that includes illness, family concerns, having kids, and making hard decisions. As one writer asserts, it would be easy to see taking career breaks as, frankly, ant-woman…since moms (and dads, right?) often must make tough choices about family versus career.

Conspicuously missing: Discussion of travel as the reason for a…BreakAway! Hmmmmm. We’ve much to say about that. But for now, let’s just embrace the miraculous victory that this quick-read article represents.

High 5s to Fast Company. 14 of their Executive Board Members, in fact. Who knew gnarly experiences like Covid-19, sheltering in place, and locking down offices would play out so poetically? (Well, some of us have been patiently waiting for WHATEVER might move the chains.)

As this site often states: You CAN have it all…just not all at once.

Keep the faith. 

Employers allegedly want neat, linear work histories. But most lives, especially those well-lived, more resemble a beautiful stack of abstract experiences.

Monster-networking SM site LinkedIn shocked the world on March 1 by suddenly—and finally—including career breaks as a viable way to describe the times that you were doing other things than working for MSFT (who owns LinkedIn). While most people would question the actual significance of LI, this is still both shocking and outstanding news.

LI even offers 13 options to describe your BreakAway, such as travel (yes!), bereavement, and caregiving. We’ll see if they add more over time, like joining the Great Resignation. Meanwhile, LI reports that “51% of hirers say they are more likely to contact a candidate that provides context about their career break.”

This development feels about, oh, 55 years late. But we rejoice in small victories—and this may represent a paradigm shift of sorts. So go ahead, be honest and update your profiles, y’all. BreakAway has always insisted that any employer worth working for will embrace people with interesting and well-rounded lives. Maybe the Linky world is catching up…