Take time off work this holiday season to recharge

AFTER ENTERING the working world after college, the comforting structure of living a syllabus-to-syllabus lifestyle no longer exists in your life as an early career professional. Now, it’s your responsibility to create a balance of work and rest that fits your individual needs. The holiday season is the perfect time to create a much-needed relationship between your professional and your personal worlds. Life in college teaches you so many important lessons to use throughout your entire life. It teaches the importance of juggling busy shifts at work with a full-time class schedule. You discover the balance of getting your assignments submitted on time and still making it to the Cal State Bakersfield basketball game all in one day.

You work hard and focus for months at a time and are rewarded with a much-needed winter break at the end of your fall semester. The structure of college is one of the most dependable pieces of your young adult life. There’s a time to focus academically and a time for mental rest that you can look forward to at the end of the road.

Using your paid time off and vacation time gives you the opportunity to develop the new “syllabus” for your life. It gives you the freedom to explore what works, what doesn’t work and what will continue to be a work in progress as you grow in your career. Even though there is no blueprint to give you a step-by-step guide on designing your professional and personal life balance, knowing the importance of creating this system for yourself is the best first step to take.

This goes beyond establishing the time that you clock in and clock out of the office. It’s creating a self-awareness that allows you to know when you are nearing exhaustion and taking time to reset your clock to avoid burning yourself out.

A huge factor in deciding to submit your holiday leave request is overcoming the fear created from the “what if” thoughts. A lot of the fear toward requesting time off is believing the negative thought that the people you work with will see you differently if you express your need to take a break.

In every great job offer, there is an element included to tell you how much time is granted for you to be off work, time that is set aside for you and you alone. The fact that your company includes this in your job outline means that this time is not only given to you, but also expected for you to use. Vacation time or PTO is not a benefit that is meant to waste away; it is an exchange in the professional relationship between yourself and your employer that benefits both parties.

Creating a sense of work-life balance for yourself gives you the necessary time to rest, relax and refresh. Your employer knows that for you to be your most productive self, you must be your best self both in and out of the office. Giving you PTO is their way of showing that they care about you not only as an employee, but as a person.

Taking time away from the office is one of the most beneficial things you can do for yourself as an individual and an employee. One of the greatest lessons is life is knowing that the way that you perform in your professional environment is largely based on the way that you invest in yourself. Taking the time to pour into your own cup, recharging, and not allowing your tank to run empty are some of the most important ingredients to being your best self.

Creating a sense of work-life balance for yourself gives you the necessary time to rest, relax and refresh. Your employer knows that for you to be your most productive self, you must be your best self both in and out of the office.