Many of your patients accrue Paid Time Off (PTO) or vacation days from their employer during every paycheck. This is a nice perk and needed for rest and recalibration.
Despite the generous vacation hours, employees find themselves maxed out (meaning, they no longer accrue PTO because they hit the max limit of residual hours they can hold).
So why are people feeling burned out and simultaneously have more vacation days than they know what to do with? Here are some reasons:
But why should you care?
Many of your patients feel burned out but fear taking vacation. Some even believe they don’t ever need to take vacation, not realizing that they aren’t operating at their full potential without rest.
Without taking time off and shutting off email, your patient will not have a chance to fully be present on the weekends. They won’t be able to self-reflect and consider career pivots.
Driven by day-to-day work inertia, you patient might be too busy to even notice that they’re fatigued and depressed.
Advice to consider during sessions.
Despite the generous vacation hours, employees find themselves maxed out (meaning, they no longer accrue PTO because they hit the max limit of residual hours they can hold).
So why are people feeling burned out and simultaneously have more vacation days than they know what to do with? Here are some reasons:
- Guilt/Shame: Despite these PTO hours being part of earned compensation, many feel they will be perceived as slackers if vacationing too often.
- Paying out Unused: Some companies offer the option of cash for unused PTO. As a result, employees now feel they are leaving money on the table by using PTO.
- The House will burn🔥: With looming deadlines any given point in time, many feel things will completely fall through the cracks if they leave for a bit.
- The House will not burn🌳: Opposite of bullet 3, some feel that things will continue to hum during their absence. This creates a sense of job insecurity.
- Unlimited PTO: Some companies lure candidates by promising unlimited PTO. However, the issue with this is that without having accrued “ownership” of vacation days, the employee feels even more so that they need permission to take time off.
But why should you care?
Many of your patients feel burned out but fear taking vacation. Some even believe they don’t ever need to take vacation, not realizing that they aren’t operating at their full potential without rest.
Without taking time off and shutting off email, your patient will not have a chance to fully be present on the weekends. They won’t be able to self-reflect and consider career pivots.
Driven by day-to-day work inertia, you patient might be too busy to even notice that they’re fatigued and depressed.
Advice to consider during sessions.
- Plan Your PTO: Advise your patient to be strategic with their PTO. They should consider 2-3 weeks in advance a backfill plan in their absence. Managers appreciate this and allows them to pitch in while your patient is on vacation.
- Promote PTO Culture: For patients that have their own team, they should encourage PTO usage in their team. Even coordinating PTO together helps reduce the email flow during time off. In addition, offering to pitch in while their employee is out will lead to their employees pitching in when your patient, their manager, is out.
- Avoid Exit Bonus Delusion: Some patients will attempt to save PTO to have a lofty payout when quitting. Remind your patient that balance is key. They should take vacations throughout the year and leave some saved for emergencies. Also remind them that the signing bonus at their next job can serve as that lofty payout.
- Be Intentional and work backwards: Some patients have noted that planning a vacation before declaring PTO makes it easier. For example, some people search for flight/hotel deals and choose a date offering that discount. Running off of that excitement, it becomes much easier to declare “out of office” on your work calendar.