It’s the end of the year again, everyone is talking about holidays.
As working adults, we are usually untitled with at least 12 days of annual leaves per year. If your employer is generous (like mine), or you have been serving to the same company for some years, you may get to enjoy more days of leaves.
Annual leaves are important to both employees and employers because it is proven that most people perform better in their jobs after some R&Rs. If you spend your leaves wisely, you can have a healthy and balanced life. Which means you will less likely to fall sick and you will be happier, and these definitely can bring positive results to both your personal life and your career.
So, how to make sure you can benefit from your annual leaves?
#1 Plan Your Annual Leaves Ahead
The most common complaint I listened from my friends is they failed to clear all the annual leaves before the new year. Though most companies allow their employees to carry forward the leaves to next year under with some terms, the same issue will come over and over again if you never plan ahead.
There are few important practices when you want to plan your annual leaves. Firstly, you need to plan it with your partner or/and your family members. Unless you are planning to spend all your holidays alone, you should always make sure that your loved ones are on the same page with you about holiday plans.
Secondly, discuss with your coworkers or/and superior about your holiday plans in advance to make sure your plans don’t clash with theirs. Thirdly, try your best to settle your works ahead before the vacation and handover pending tasks to your teammates properly before you ‘unplug’. As a responsible person, we must ensure not to cause any inconvenience to our colleagues or at least minimize it while we enjoy a nice vacation.
#2 Apply Annual Leaves with Correct Manners
Though we have every right to spend all our annual leaves, we should do things the right ways to avoid any unhappy and awkward situations.
Booking your holidays prior to your superior’s approval is a taboo. You should understand that paid leaves are great perks to you, but the purpose your employer hire you in the first place is to work. Therefore, you should avoid giving your employer a disrespect or self-centred impression. Discuss verbally with your superior ahead about your plans, then apply leaves properly following the policies, then only start booking your R&Rs after receiving approval.
#3 Spend Your Annual Leaves for Good Purposes
I don’t know you, but for me, annual leaves are very valuable. Fun activities and some good rests are important for me to recharge my energy and be more productive when I’m back to work. Though I said annual leaves are important, I don’t mean that we can only use them for travelling. You can spend your annual leaves anywhere, even at home, if you have a good purpose. Here are some ideas for your annual leaves beside travelling:
Family Day
Spending quality times with your parents, siblings and children are crucial to maintaining the happiness and the strong bonding of the family. You might think you can do that during public holidays, but normally there are festivals going on during public holidays and we probably need to be busy with all those rituals to celebrate the festivals. Furthermore, we can’t really hang out during public holidays because everywhere is crowded. Thus, taking some leaves to have a date with your family can be a good idea.
You can organize some fun activities like a picnic, a visit to a theme park, a mild jungle trekking, or a movie date, it all depends on your family members’ preference. Book a nice and private restaurant to have a nice meal with your family or just have a potluck party. Do anything that you and your family members enjoy!
House Cleaning
If you always yell that you don’t have time to clean your messy room or house, and you are also complaining that you don’t know how to clear your leaves, isn’t it very obvious that you can spend your leaves to make your home more comfort? In addition, using your annual leaves to do house cleaning can prevent yourself to be lazy because you probably wouldn’t waste your annual leaves doing nothing.
Body & Mind Retreats
We all agreed that work can be very stressful and be tiring at times. So, it’s good to do some relaxing activities to release stresses and keep your body and mind healthy. A meditation class, a yoga class or a good spa and massage session can definitely refresh your body and mind.
You can also go for your favourite sports activities to sweat yourself out or attend a mindful talk or conference to keep your body and mind fit!
Explore Your Neighbourhood
When we talk about travel, we always like to talk about going to somewhere far away. Do you realize that your dream destination might be someone’s neighbourhood and vice versa? Have you asked yourself how much do you know about your neighbourhood?
Take a day off to explore the food, nice people and nice places in the neighbourhood or the city that you stay, you might find some hidden gems!
Health Maintenance
Regular health exams and tests can help find problems before they start. Besides, they can also help find problems early, when your chances of treatment and cure are better. By getting the right health services, screenings, and treatments, you are taking steps that help your chances of living a longer, healthier life.
We work hard for a better living. It’s pointless to work and earn money if you don’t take care of your health because you can’t enjoy a good life without a healthy body. Therefore, don’t give yourself excuses for not concerning about your own health.
Last Note
If you’re planning to do something very extreme like go for a mountain hiking or a backpacking trip, remember to apply one day leave extra so that you can have enough rest before getting back to work. Don’t be stingy about your annual leaves and ended up going back to the office in bad condition.
Hope you fully enjoy your annual leaves!
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