This week many of our fellow friends and coworkers will be taking time off during what is midwinter break for many schools throughout the area and across the country. Perhaps even you are leaving the laptop and day-to-day work responsibilities behind in favor of warmer weather and leisure time activities.
Among the tenets of what our firm, Tanner Friedman, stands for is that of “work-life balance”. This and other goals of our organization, including striving to exhibit ‘mutual respect’ and aspire to a ‘we not me approach’ set our foundation and the tone of our culture. Yet, where taking time off is concerned, many of us don’t always practice what we preach.
Americans, on average, earn 14 days off per year, taking only 12 of them. This in stark contrast to overseas where the European Union requires that workers receive at least 20 days of paid leave per year. And what of the American work ethic vs. the European way with midday siestas and extended summer ‘holidays’? There is growing data that demonstrates that the more time off we take, the more productive we actually become.
Still, it is likely that we will continue to debate this dynamic versus the fear that more time out can also mean missed opportunity and decreased customer service. Perhaps the old cliché everything in moderation applies here, or, work hard, play hard. To be sure, to maintain equilibrium and proper perspective it is vital to enjoy your time doing both. It is advice some of us, myself included, need heed – as I write this blog from home on a Sunday afternoon.