Why You Should Work During the Holidays

But differently.

As the holiday season approaches, offices and hybrid workspaces will soon empty out as workers head to beaches or mountains, attempting to leave work behind, albeit with varying degrees of success and enthusiasm. For leaders, one of the primary challenges of taking holidays is the difficulty in completely disconnecting from work responsibilities. There are several common reasons for this. Firstly, leaders feel a strong sense of responsibility and accountability towards their team or organization, always feeling "on call" and finding it hard to delegate effectively, often due to a perception that others cannot be trusted with critical tasks. Additionally, heavy workloads and looming deadlines create pressure to work through holidays or remain accessible when a crisis occurs. The addictive connectivity of today's world, through emails, calls, and messages, further complicates matters, as leaders feel obligated to stay reachable to handle unforeseen issues.

Taking time off work recharges your productivity and ability to see things differently both professionally and personally. There is a definite connection between taking regular breaks during the day and your level of productivity. While these daily breaks can keep us going in the short term, we must take longer breaks from work to sustain and even build on our ability to remain agile and productive. Holiday time also allows us to see new perspectives and formulate insights an initiative many innovative companies encourage their employees to do during the work week to see what new solutions or ideas they might come up with that can be pooled into the organization’s directive. Being away from your work environment for a longer period will allow you to gain a fresh perspective on the vision you have for your organization and of new ways that you can help your team to transform it into reality.

Size and culture matter

For small owner-operated businesses such as ours, a collective commitment to company success, and a learning blaming culture, coupled with flexibility and a practical mindset, can more easily address these challenges. However, larger organizations may encounter greater difficulty in identifying appropriate solutions.

Cultural differences in vacations between the EU and the US primarily revolve around duration, timing, and societal attitudes. In the EU, especially in Mediterranean countries like France, Italy, and Spain, there is a strong tradition of longer vacations, ranging from several weeks to a month or more during the summer. Many businesses and institutions shut down or operate at reduced capacity during this period. Europeans prioritize work-life balance and view vacations as essential for health and well-being. In contrast, vacations in the US tend to be shorter, with the average annual leave ranging from one to two weeks for many workers. There is less emphasis on extended breaks and more on individual responsibility for managing time off.

Additionally, vacation times are often staggered throughout the year rather than concentrated in one season. Americans may also feel pressured not to take all their allotted vacation days due to concerns about work continuity or job security. A finding supported by a recent Harris Pole . No matter your cultural background, with the connectivity of the workplace in our lives today due to technology, it's important to take a step back and use holidays wisely.

Learn new skills and take a step back

Use the holiday time to practice new mindsets like counterintuition. Successful leaders plan their office time very precisely not leaving a lot of time for opportunity and serendipity to flourish so don't plan everything when you are away, be more spontaneous and see what turns up. Take a step back and see where you are and if it's the place where you want or deserve to be.

Escape from Toxic Work Cultures

Paradoxically, when leaders choose not to take a holiday they inadvertently convey a message that diminishes the importance of time off for their team. By abstaining from a holiday themselves, leaders fail to demonstrate support for employees who opt to take time away from work. This can lead to a sense of isolation among employees who decide to go on vacation, especially when leadership and others across the team believe that prevailing circumstances necessitate everyone sacrificing earned time off.