Take Some Time Off, Just Do It

I’d grossly underestimated how much I needed time off until I actually got it.

Two weeks ago, after four years of working from one headline to another, I took time off – they call it annual leave in the working world.

I was granted atleast three-quarters of my due leave which was well into half a century of days.

I had plans lined up for it; Travel, food, catch up with old buddies, visit my dad who is now into seven months of his retirement and also grow personal bonds with friends and family.

I worked hard to clear my desk before I left, working till 1 am on the last two days to my leave.

When it eventually started, I was glad it had come.

I’d genuinely missed what it felt like to sleep-in the morning. My work schedule demanded I wake up at 4;30 am everyday – I’d ceded that in my leave.

The living room bulb which had blown on one of the many evenings I came back late had not been replaced, leave was here –and I’d fix it.

My library was growing with books I had bookmarked after 20 pages or simply hadn’t read yet.  A manuscript and it’s ensuing sisters haunted me every evening I returned home.

My blog, this one, would have made for a good cob-web study before this came along.

But most importantly, leave allowed me to claw back on how much of myself I’d given to the world at the expense of myself. The ultimate work-life balance is something that many young people driven by ideas and passion are struggling with – and by extension failing at.

We are so obsessed with creating the world we want to live with that we often forget to live in the one we are at the moment.

So I have now been two weeks into leave and boy oh boy, has it been rewarding!

We all deserve some time off, to rest, travel, see the world outside the disruptive schedules of work.

Have you taken leave recently, what are you waiting for?