How to Take a Real Summer Break

Summertime, and the livin' is…easy? It's supposed to be, but around the world, toxic productivity culture and late-stage capitalism are conspiring with a message for employees: don't relax too much, okay? These messages are subtle, but the impacts aren't. We're sitting on record numbers of unused vacation days, and those who do take off are still feeling pulled to keep an one eye on their work projects. And yet, almost no one believes this is a good thing. There's widespread acknowledgement that we want more time off, more ability to disconnect, more confidence about leaving work behind for more than a weekend.  Does getting some time off shouldn't mean having to plan a remote off-grid trip. Or have your only "real" break come when you've left one job and haven't yet started the next one. There must be a better way, right?  This is an issue that's calling out for leaders to lead. It requires a bit of courage and a solid playbook. In this episode, I'll give you the recipe for both.   What You'll Learn:  How the productivity culture and capitalism undermine our sense of what a "normal" vacation should look like Why the number of vacation days your work allows matters less than your mindset around time off Why I ignored a lot of professional advice and decided to take a seasonal break with this podcast 4 steps to making longer vacations possible – no matter what field you're in   If you listen to this episode, you'll hear how and why I decided to take a month off of podcasting this summer. But fear not, The Mental Offload podcast will be back with Season 2 next month! Do these two things now so you don't miss the start of Season 2: hit follow/subscribe in your podcast player, so you get new episodes as soon as they're out, and click here to sign up for The Mental Offload Newsletter, so you get the latest news.