Ah, summer break.
Remember summer break? We counted down the days until school was out for summer, catapulting us into nearly three months of sunny, unscheduled, homework-free bliss.
Alice Cooper even wrote a song about it. That’s how much we looked forward to it.
But now, if you’re anything like more than half of Americans, you have no plans to take a summer vacation.*
*We realize this survey isn’t from this year but the last year hasn’t exactly been ‘normal,’ so we chose research that better represents ‘the before – and hopefully after – times.’
And while cost and other obligations were given as reasons, the most disheartening overarching reason given?
‘I can’t take time off of work.’
But this reason stands in direct opposition to the staggering reality that more than half of Americans have unused vacation days at the end of the year. So the time to take off is there, but withers on the vine.
This then begs the question: Why?
“Americans suffer from a work martyr complex. In part, it’s because ‘busyness’ is something we wear as a badge of honor. Unfortunately, workers do not seem to realize that forfeiting their vacation time comes at the expense of their overall health, well-being and relationships.”
And the specific top-three reasons given for not taking their hard-earned vacation days? Work. Not cost. Not children or pets. Not even prior obligations. But work. You know, the very institution that affords so many of us those aforementioned vacation days.
Respondents cited ‘looking replaceable (61%), ‘the workload is too heavy (56%), and ‘the lack of coverage at work (56%).
But can we agree that after last year, when even those who wanted – desperately – to take time off, to unplug and disconnect couldn’t, that this year should really be the year Americans use 100 percent of those vacation days.
Every last nanosecond.
We’ve earned them. We deserve them. And certainly now more than ever.
That Sounds Great. But How? Work Isn’t Going Anywhere.
As a business owner, you likely work yourself tirelessly, day in and day out. And nights, too, if you’re being really honest. You have your hands in everything and know every nuanced everything of your business, arguably better than anyone else.
So while you know you need a vacation, you trudge on.
But what if we told you there’s another way? A way wherein you delegate all of the nuanced everything of your business so you can fully, truly and completely check out.
Sound too good to be true? Don’t believe us? That’s fair. You don’t have to take our word for it. Take it from Bryan and Shannon, who took a three-month family sabbatical one summer with the help of their BELAY Virtual Assistant.
And while we realize this is an exceptional story, it doesn’t have to be a Bryan and Shannon exclusive.
This could be your story, too. But you can take baby steps.
With someone triaging and tending to your emails, managing your calendar and scheduling and more, you could dip your toes in the hard-earned waters of a long weekend. Then maybe a week. Then who knows? Sky’s the limit. Maybe the next three-month sabbatical story will be yours.
And a BELAY Virtual Assistant can help you write its happy ending. Let’s chat.