If You Feel Guilty Taking Time Off, Read This
It wasn’t that long ago that I had maxed out my vacation time at work. They actually had to force me to take PTO. I wore it like a badge of honor. I didn’t take days off. I pushed through. I showed up no matter what. I was also burnt out, stressed to the max, 20 pounds overweight, and very, very unhappy.
If you’re the woman who feels guilty even thinking about taking a day off, I get it. I used to be you. The one who keeps going because everything feels like it depends on you. The one who thinks stepping away means things will fall apart.
Fast forward to now, and I take mental health days because I like that Barnes and Noble is empty at 11am on a Tuesday. I wake up, the sun is out, and it feels like a day that belongs to me. Not a day I’m “missing” at work, but a day I’m choosing for myself. I’ve learned to get ahead of it. I don’t wait until my body forces me to stop. I take time before I hit that point. That’s what PTO is actually for. And that shift alone makes all the difference.
For me, it starts with giving myself permission to slow down. Sleeping in. Moving my body with intention. Having a slow coffee and a real breakfast. Letting the day be loosely structured, or not structured at all. Doing things I actually enjoy. No pressure. No timeline. No one else’s expectations. This is what balance looks like.
I spend so much of my time meeting demands. Deadlines, emails, calls, texts. Constant output. Mental health days are for me. Fully. Sometimes that looks like getting my hair done. Sometimes it looks like staying in bed and reading all day. The point isn’t what I’m doing. The point is that I’ve stepped out of the noise.
The world does not stop because you do. But you will eventually stop if you never give yourself the chance to. I learned that the hard way.
Have you ever taken a vacation after running yourself into the ground, only to spend the entire trip trying to unwind, and then head back to work right as you finally start to feel like yourself again? That doesn’t work for me anymore. Or taking a day off and spending the whole time thinking about everything piling up, dreading what’s waiting for you when you get back?
That’s not normal. That’s not balance. That’s a sign something is off. Maybe it’s your workplace. Maybe it’s your boundaries. Maybe it’s both.
But here’s the truth I had to learn: your job will still be there when you get back. And if everything truly falls apart because you took a day off, that’s not a reflection of your importance. That’s a lack of support. You are not meant to carry everything on your own.
We shouldn’t be living like the world will fall apart if we take a day or two to breathe.
Because the reality is, it won’t.
But you might. Let’s stop feeding into this hustle culture BS. We are so much better than this.
