Taking holiday regularly is all part of managing work life balance. At Nobull we work with health and wellbeing clients as well as specialists in holidays, pets, days out and even sleep experts: our team have top tips of how to use holiday to relax and more.
A recent article in People Management magazine reveals that an increasing number of people feel “too busy” at work to take all of their holiday entitlement and reports that 113,000 days were forfeited in the period studied.
We all found ourselves in new situations when we had to take our holiday and go nowhere over the C-19 lockdowns, followed by being quite desperate to travel or see people that we had missed. Then, with mounting external pressures, holiday slipped down the priority ladder.
Our holiday days are part of our wellbeing packages and although sometimes we need to save them for a big trip, we also need to think about how to look after ourselves by planning regular breaks to unwind and refresh. Far from undermining our work ethic, this can restore and rebuild us to be in good shape for work. This is best managed as part of workplace culture, with business leaders and line managers leading by example and encouraging their teams to feel comfortable planning their time off even, or especially, when workloads are mounting.
We often have bucket lists of far-flung places we want to visit, but there are many other ways that we don’t need to save up for. Taking regular breaks, whatever our age and lifestyle, has proven benefits for health, motivation, fitness and problem-solving.
Team tips:
• Don’t forget… to plan your holiday all year round (if you are a line manager your support can be crucial for your team). Nothing worse than taking holiday just to “use it up” at the end of the year.
• Invest in yourself! A one-day course in a new sport or hobby can give a whole new perspective. From crafty gurus to local adult education there are sessions for every budget.
• Find the free! A rainy day mooching in London museums for free and only budgeting for coffee & cake is recommended and VisitLondon have a whole section dedicated to freebies. An internet search of “free days out in my area” brings up some brilliant ideas.
• Walk it! A day walking with a pub lunch or picnic in the middle is a great way to slow down the pace and see your own neighbourhood from different angles. Team Nobull is lucky to have the Thames path & the Chiltern Hills on our doorstep.
• Book it! Avoid the weekend crowds and use a weekday to visit sporting events, driving tracks, golf courses, literary festivals, flower shows or a matinee performance in the theatre. Even better during term-time or when off-peak entry is cheap.
• Try a wellbeing focus. A home spa, a facial or yoga retreat can recharge flagging batteries and be the basis of daily small moments of self-care.
• Talk about it! Celebrate how you spend your time away from work in team chats; normalise time off that isn’t a big budget epic trip. And yes, duvet days, DIY and gardening do count!
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