It comes as no surprise to anyone who has followed this blog or checks me out on Linked In: I’m a huge proponent of using your PTO. I’m a fan of enjoying your weekends and free time. I’m a fan of living life.
But I have a confession – My justification for the above is flawed and needs to change.
Much of the content I put out about taking your PTO, usually includes a variety of reasons for doing so. Most of them spot on. The one reasoning that I want to take back?
Taking PTO should be done to recharge you for work.
Now, let me say this…taking PTO certainly can and certainly does recharge you for work. But using it as a justification for taking PTO in the first place is wrong. It suggests an undercurrent of insecurity and guilt about taking your earned PTO.
And I’m not sure why we feel the need to do so. To justify.
And it feels like this across all of our activities. Play a sport? Well, I do so because it teaches me teamwork and drive so I can be a better rock-star at work.
Read a book? Better be one about work or productivity or…at the very least, teach you something that you can use at work.
What happened to good ol’fashioned reading for the hell of it? Right now, I’m reading a fantasy novel.
Oh. Shit.
Now recruiters are going to read that and not consider me for a new role! My boss saw this and is wondering why I’m not being productive at 10:15 on a Friday night! I’ll never earn that promotion now! And future customers will go work with my competitors instead of me because I’m not reading a book on how to become a better ninja.
Burn all the books that aren’t about productivity so I can crush my KPIs on Monday!!
Sigh.
I honest to God feel like this is the mental state of so many folks with an office job right now.
That if we aren’t constantly talking about being busy and productivity and KPIs and that I just read the latest Seth Godin book…the Crush-It-Overlords will find you and report you.
Destroy your career. You’ll become broke and penniless.
How did we get here? Honestly.
I will no longer use “it makes me better at work” as a justification for PTO, weekends, holidays and leisurely activities. Again…one more time ‘cause someone’s going to say it:
Yes! These things do make you better at work. That is not the argument.
The argument is, however, to no longer use “make me better at work” as a justification nor as an excuse. I’ll not use it as a way to dismiss my guilt. Because I’m no longer feeling guilty about reading a sci-fi novel instead of a book on how to become 0.04% better each hour. I’m no longer justifying PTO as a way to ‘recharge for work.’ I’m taking PTO to see new things.
I'm taking PTO to have fun. To live life.
And that’s the thing. Life is short. Whether you live to see your 30’s or 90’s…our lifespan is a cosmic blip. Yes, work hard. Do your best. Create value. But please…live life. And don’t feel the need to justify enjoying your free time with “well, I do this because it’ll help me be more productive at work.” If it's an added benefit, awesome. Rather...
...justify doing the thing with “I do this because I enjoy it. And because I’m living my life.”
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