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While vacation is compulsory at my company, I really didn’t know how badly I needed it till I embarked on mine. Prior to this I was at my wits end and at a point sinking into misery. The cause was simple, I was overworked and stressed. It made me tired, irritable and essentially useless for the rest of the day as I was unable to literally do anything else but eat and sleep.
I had gained around 6kg since joining the company June last year as things like exercise, eating and sleeping were completely distorted from my usual schedule. I have never been big on depression as I believe too many people use it as kind of a buzz word, but I certainly appreciate better mental health and the need to nurture it as one would their physical and financial well-being.
In all these though I never thought I needed a break. Hear me out. My company usually tells employees to schedule their vacation at the beginning of the year so there won’t be clashes and substitutes could be notified on time. At the beginning of the year I filled October frankly because I had nothing better to do prior. While my leave was timely it wasn’t eagerly sought after. It’s not like I had a trip planned or anything like that.
I spent the first week largely gathering myself. I stepped up my workouts, restarted my diet, slept more but most importantly I was under no form for undue pressure or stress throughout the period. It was from the fourth day or so I begun to realize just how badly I needed to return to normalcy that the leave afforded.
Having resumed I can say am much better having had the time to reflect and redefine my goals and ambitions, as well as map a strategy on how best to actualize them. Time will tell about the results of course but one thing I won’t be taking for granted anymore is the need to step back when the body calls for it.
Everyone needs a reset. Allegedly, it takes 3 weeks to create a new habit (and three more to solidify it). So if you spent a week laying the groundwork, you're a third there. <3