By the time you read this, I will be gone. On vacation, that is. And while I’m gone, Journyx will fall apart without me. Flames will rise from the earth to engulf not just my department, nay, but the entire company. From Development to Sales to Support and, of course, Marketing, the wails of the lost souls will fill the building and no one will be even remotely capable of functioning. When I return, there will be disaster after disaster that I alone will be able to clean up. There will be mountains of work piled up on my desk. And everyone will hate me, cursing my name as they vow to drive the hard-won relaxation from my bones.

Does that sound like how you feel about taking a little time off? If so, then you really should talk to someone about your martyr complex. Because no matter how guilty we as Americans are inclined to feel about taking time off from work, we really ought to. And I’m not talking some kind of “I’ll be checking email and voice mail hourly” thing here. I’m talking about an honest-to-goodness “I am not available. Sorry. I’ll be back in a week (or two, if you’re bold)” vacating (or, vacation) of the office.

Now I understand that there are some professions where you can’t really go on vacation. Transplant surgeon and owner-operator of a one-person consultancy come to mind. But really, everyone else ought to be able to take a least a few days off every now and then and think about something other than the Henderson liver/account. So unless there’s literally no one else who can keep the fires burning (or if Mrs. Sydney’s kidney is depending on you) then do yourself – and likely everyone else around you – a big favor and take some time off before the summer ends and the mad press to squirrel away nuts before winter really takes hold.

Say it with me. “I will be out of the office for the next few days. Please contact one of my able-bodied and intelligent coworkers if you need assistance.” Good. I know that was hard. Now say it again, and try not to falter. You can do this.

And if you can’t, well, I’ll send you a postcard.

- Andrew Trent, Journyx Director of Web Content