# Take Your Allotted Time Off



## PowerShell (Feb 3, 2013)

I read so many times people forgo taking their vacation. I find this kind of crazy. I actually made a video on this. What do you guys think? Do you take all your vacation?


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## angelfish (Feb 17, 2011)

Amen, brother. 

Not in IT but I too can fall prey to the martyr syndrome and you're 110% right. It can be hard to pull away but it really is just good for your health. I think it's pretty awesome how much comp time you get! Sounds like a good deal. Glad you have the willpower and serenity to enjoy it.

As for me and vacation, I always take a summer beach trip, usually take a couple days off around the winter holidays, and then I take a sprinkling of "mental health" days through the year. This year I'm tight on time because I'm at a new job and getting married in the summer, so that's taking up a good chunk of my limited days. Fortunately my team and boss are really supportive and our busy season ends this month and doesn't pick up again until October.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous of my fiance's school schedule, though. He's counting down till summer break!


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## JennyJukes (Jun 29, 2012)

thanks dad


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## PowerShell (Feb 3, 2013)

angelfish said:


> Not in IT but I too can fall prey to the martyr syndrome and you're 110% right. It can be hard to pull away but it really is just good for your health. I think it's pretty awesome how much comp time you get! Sounds like a good deal. Glad you have the willpower and serenity to enjoy it.


It's actually the main reason I stay, because I could make a lot more money elsewhere. The time off is nice while I try to launch my blog and strike it on my own. I eventually don't want to work for anyone. I actually just got back from a 5500 mile road trip over the past 2.5 weeks that involved 15 states and 1 Canadian province.


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## PowerShell (Feb 3, 2013)

JennyJukes said:


> thanks dad


Actually, this was advice from my dad and the older I get, the more I realize it's solid advice. I used to always cash out any vacation I could instead of taking it. Now, I realize how much more you get out of taking off.


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## AriesLilith (Jan 6, 2013)

Actually by law in my country the employer has to ensure that the employee must either take all the vacations or get paid of the vacation value in cash. Vacations here are also paid and are 22 days.

But I can't see how people can focus on work without vacations at all. Even if it's gratifying we have other interests in life. Besides, one thing is working for ourselves so we have more freedom to choose what we want to do (even so we are still dependent of our clients), another is working for someone else where our tasks and how we do things are conditioned by someone else.

Do people in other countries not take vacation because they aren't paid or set a minimum by law? Or are they afraid of being negatively perceived by their employers?


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## PowerShell (Feb 3, 2013)

AriesLilith said:


> Do people in other countries not take vacation because they aren't paid or set a minimum by law? Or are they afraid of being negatively perceived by their employers?


I think the US is the only modern country that doesn't set the standard by law.


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## PiT (May 6, 2017)

I get paid vacation, but I rarely take any. Part of this has to do with home issues that I would rather avoid as much as possible, but I suspect part of it is also that, like many INTJs, work is a part of my life that I excel in. With that in mind, I would rather be spending time on work than on many other activities.


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## joshman108 (Apr 14, 2014)

I just started my first job that gives me vacation time. I have been working there 3 full months. We have a generous amount of time that we can take such that my boss has already begun telling me to take time off - at least several days. That seems so crazy after just 3 months and I do really like my job so I am inclined to keep working, but I guess you are right - I should take some time off even if it does seem very early for that.


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## PowerShell (Feb 3, 2013)

joshman108 said:


> I just started my first job that gives me vacation time. I have been working there 3 full months. We have a generous amount of time that we can take such that my boss has already begun telling me to take time off - at least several days. That seems so crazy after just 3 months and I do really like my job so I am inclined to keep working, but I guess you are right - I should take some time off even if it does seem very early for that.


Don't become a martyr:


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## Fumetsu (Oct 7, 2015)

My idiot freind lost his job because of this.

He was tolled so many times " You have built up over 6 mo vacation USE IT.

He refused and ever since he was fired over it he has been a miserable person, constantly bitching that the world is out to get him. 

I worry for him, at his age it is unlikely he will find another permanent job but on the other-it was his own fault.


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## Wild (Jul 14, 2014)

Fumetsu said:


> My idiot freind lost his job because of this.
> 
> He was tolled so many times " You have built up over 6 mo vacation USE IT.
> 
> ...


Wait, he was fired just because he didn't use his vacation time? Seems like there'd have to be something else going on that he's not telling you.


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## Fumetsu (Oct 7, 2015)

Wild said:


> Wait, he was fired just because he didn't use his vacation time? Seems like there'd have to be something else going on that he's not telling you.


Hmm..well, he hated his job. The more he was there the more miserable he got and he was getting very moody at work.

He blames it on the fact that he injured himself and his boss did not want to pay out. That is pretty shitty but he basically gave them a red herring.


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## PowerShell (Feb 3, 2013)

Wild said:


> Wait, he was fired just because he didn't use his vacation time? Seems like there'd have to be something else going on that he's not telling you.


When someone becomes a martyr, they think everyone else should too and have a chip on their shoulder and it shows.


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## Winter Queen (May 16, 2017)

We Americans are one of the most overworked people in the West. You're fortunate to get all that time off, but I like to enjoy the outdoors and focus on personal projects and hobbies when I have time. Then, as you say, you come back relaxed and ready to jump into a project headlong.


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## PowerShell (Feb 3, 2013)

Winter Queen said:


> We Americans are one of the most overworked people in the West. You're fortunate to get all that time off, but I like to enjoy the outdoors and focus on personal projects and hobbies when I have time. Then, as you say, you come back relaxed and ready to jump into a project headlong.


That's pretty much what I do. I travel (and see a lot of outdoors) and my main hobby is blogging.


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## OrangeAppled (Jun 26, 2009)

Paid vacation? Must be nice! I don't have any paid time off save for certain national holidays. I never have had paid vacation. Most people I know don't get any.


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## Fumetsu (Oct 7, 2015)

PowerShell said:


> When someone becomes a martyr, they think everyone else should too and have a chip on their shoulder and it shows.


Dude, not okay to speak for people you don't know.

Yeah, he can be a pain to deal with. He absolutely does not have "a chip on his shoulder". I would not even say he has a martyr complex. He genuinely likes to be helpful. 

I should rephrase that he didn't hate his job. He loved the work he did, he just did not like the people (and it was justifiable. That place was nightmare. I hear it's really fallen apart in the past couple years.) Part of the reason was because they would frequently have him do things that were not his job and had a hard time getting his actual work done. So, he would stay after hours often to get his actual work done.


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## PowerShell (Feb 3, 2013)

Fumetsu said:


> Dude, not okay to speak for people you don't know.
> 
> Yeah, he can be a pain to deal with. He absolutely does not have "a chip on his shoulder". I would not even say he has a martyr complex. He genuinely likes to be helpful.
> 
> I should rephrase that he didn't hate his job. He loved the work he did, he just did not like the people (and it was justifiable. That place was nightmare. I hear it's really fallen apart in the past couple years.) Part of the reason was because they would frequently have him do things that were not his job and had a hard time getting his actual work done. So, he would stay after hours often to get his actual work done.


If there was an attitude, there's a chip on his shoulder. He may have been helpful and tried his damnedest to fix it, but if he wasn't taking time off and had attitude issues because of it, there's a chip on his shoulder. I've personally been there so I know what is going on.


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