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The standard 10 days of vacation package offered to most workers in the US sounds terribly little when you consider most of us work some 260 days a year. But if you utilize some of the tips we share below, you can make those 10 days seem a lot longer than two weeks.
Combine with weekends & existing holidays
We all know this trick. If you take your vacation days at the beginning or end of the week, they’ll flow right into (or out of) the weekend and you’ll effectively extend your time off by two days.
But if you really wanna level up and play with the vacation pros, you’ll take this even once step further. Combine two weekends and a week between that has a holiday, and you’ve just turned 4 vacation days into 9 days of bliss. That’s enough time for a lengthy vacation to that dream destination halfway across the world!
Don’t gun for the dead zone between Christmas and New Years’
This might seem counterintuitive considering the first tip, but just hear me out. Not only are most offices these days super flexible about that week (some even lock up shop completely), being at the office during the dead zone is kinda fun!
Think about it – most of your co-workers are off so you’ll have the flexibility to be as productive or…not…as you want to be. You also don’t have to worry much about the phone ringing or lengthy meetings, so you can head home early most days. Besides, even without taking time off, you’re getting at least 3 full days home with your family. It’s a double win!
Take several shorter breaks, instead of one long one
If you aim to take at least one short break each quarter, you will actually benefit a lot more than trying to cram your time off all into one big vacation. You’ll have something to look forward to a lot more frequently, and with holidays spread throughout the year, you end up getting longer breaks overall. For example, combine the 9-day vacation we mentioned in the first tip, with three shorter 5-day breaks (one holiday, one weekend and two vacation days), and you’ve effectively turned 10 vacation days into 24!
Offer to work on holidays in exchange for floating days
If the placement of the holidays on the calendar don’t quite align with your plans, and your office is open on holidays, then you might be in luck. Offer up a trade to your boss – you’ll take the dreaded holiday shift (because of your kind heart and dedication to the company, of course) in exchange for a floating day that you can take any time you like. Score!
Tack on vacation days to business trips
Travel to some interesting destinations for work? Make a vacay out of it without using up any vacation days at all! Simply arrange for the travel to be at the end of the week and book (or have your office book) your trip home on Sunday instead of Friday. Boom, two extra days to explore the city.
Chances are, you won’t be working all day long during these work trips anyway, so don’t be afraid to duck out for a long lunch and swing by a museum, or turn one of your more informal meetings into a dinner on the town.
It’s called work-from-home, but who’s to say where home is?
If there’s one good thing that come out of the pandemic, it’s normalizing work-from-home. And since we’re not physically required to be in office, who’s to say “home” can’t be a beach in Bali? (Just kidding, don’t take your laptop to the beach. It’s way less fun than it looks. Sand gets EVERYWHERE. But I digress…)
If you can swing it, turning working remotely into travel time is a really smart way to maximize on travel. From 9-to-5, you might be stuck in Zoom call purgatory (with some Baileys in your coffee cup) but 5-to-9 is all yours. Then on the weekends, you’re free and clear. That’s living the life right there!
Don’t leave your days unplanned
It’s tempting to leave a few extra days just in case something pops up, but don’t. Not only is it a perfect excuse when you don’t want to do something – “Sorry Mark, I can’t make it to your fifth wedding. I’ve used up all my vacation days. Best of luck this time around!” – but you probably won’t end up needing them at all. Then instead of maximizing these days off, you’re lounging on the couch doing absolutely nothing because HR told you you need to use ’em or lose ’em. If you absolutely need to, you can always shorten a holiday plan.
Don’t wait!
Now that you have your strategy, book your days now! The earlier you submit your requests, the more likely you are to get them, and the less likely you’ll get stuck picking up the slack when your office realizes they’ll be short on staff. Enjoy!
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