Yesterday my performance review snitched to my PTO balance, so I booked time off. Same system, one tab over, blinking SOS.
Earlier in the week, a friend posted on social media that they, ‘Need to do something creative… but there’s no time,’ and it hit like a quiet alarm. My writing is my purest creative outlet, BUT instead of making time for it, it is stealing my sleep. And I haven’t taken more than a stray day off here and there for more than a year.
So, I decided to treat REST like part of the job and blocked/took off every Friday from Halloween through year-end, plus a couple weekdays, including my birthday. Outlook fired off ten OOO flares. I waved as my colleagues probably wondered if I was having a breakdown. And yes, I have no idea how my increased workload will get done.
But the HR truth is that PTO is compensation. Use it or donate it to future resentment. Because performance needs a pulse, not a martyr.
I’m giving the time off some ceremony: coffee as a potion, phone in the “Do Not Disturb” cauldron, pages with no bullet points. And a four-part micro-ritual to keep me honest:
-Sharpen one technique before lunch. (SKILL)
-Talk to one person who lifts my thinking. (NETWORK)
-Finish one small thing, no multitasking. (ACTIVITY)
-Read one page outside my lane. (KNOWLEDGE)
To my friend with too much life happening right now, thank you for the nudge. I’m not running away from work (ok, I might be), but I’m also dining with the muse so I can return with better eyes and steadier hands.
Your turn: if you had those Fridays, or even one protected morning, what is the ritual that would actually feed your creativity before email guilt wakes up? Drop it in the comments, tag a friend who needs the nudge, and let’s make “use it” the culture, not the exception.
