Monday, June 30, 2008

Any plans for summer vacation?

A few weeks ago, I was reading some articles that said Canadians were choosing to take several long weekends rather than a tradition week or two vacation during the summer. The choices were made for a variety of reasons. The most common reason these days is the price of gas, but the scariest reason (in my opinion) is that people felt that they couldn't afford to miss a full week or two at work. They felt they were either too indispensable or just too busy to leave.

I can identify with that. When I was employed at my last job, I was still able to work from home so the stress of telecommuting and office politics didn't exist as much. However, vacation is still very important - but I was really reluctant to take it. Why? I was afraid I would be found out as being too dispensable. How sad is that? That's how insecure I was. And it really didn't make sense because I was there for seven years.

Now, as a freelancer, I find myself worried about taking too much time off because I don't want to lose opportunities. Again, that's sad because the whole idea of being self-employed and freelancing is so I have the freedom to take vacations when I want to.

Psychologists have weighed in on this trend to not take vacations and many are worried about it. They say that we need these vacations to recharge and refresh ourselves. Not taking vacations can lead to burn out and physical illness. While I do agree that people need good breaks from work - but isn't it possible that some people do relax better if they have several long weekends in a row. There's a lot to be said about having a whole slew of four-day work weeks in a row, looking forward to those three-day weekends.

What do you think?


Today (and the weekend) at Help My Hurt:

And her gallbladder decides it’s time to make its presence known

Lifting The Burden: Migraine education

Multiple sclerosis and restless leg syndrome?

European agency recommends approval for Abstral (fentanyl) for cancer pain

Combination Therapy for Migraine Shows Promise

Yikes - Pfizer’s ad for fibro awareness

7 tips for living with fibromyalgia

Check out Disaboom: Fibro and sex

Girl Recovering After Tug-of-War Accident

Video: Fibromyalgia explained

Keeping track of medications

Another shocking study


And today (and on the weekend) at Womb Within:


Will your pregnancy affect your pet?

Heavy birthweight baby girls twice as likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis

Depression during pregnancy following successful IVF

High heels for infants

Colic - what is it and what can you do?

Uterus conditions reason why first borns may have higher asthma rate

Anxiety disorders during pregnancy

Sterile water better than acupuncture during labor?

Surrogate mothers - womb for rent?

How sex changes during pregnancy

News for Today:

Implantable device shows promise in treating obesity less invasively: study

Most food safety assumptions are half-baked

Diabetes linked to cognitive decline in seniors

Low birth weight, prematurity may raise autism risk

For older adults, motivation to stay active comes in many forms

Doubling of sexually transmitted infections among over-45s in under a decade

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sadly, I think most workers in America today feel expendable. And when you're treated as unimportant, you feel you should work harder to keep up. This strategy may benefit organizations for a time, but when illness increases as a result of the overwork, the benefits will diminish rapidly.
Onehealthpro