Welcome back to ‘Do You Have A Minute?’ I am pumped by the feedback I’ve received so far on this newsletter. A sincere thank you for all of the support.

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‘How much time off is too much?’

With the holiday season around the corner and many companies promoting unlimited time off policies, this question comes up all too often.

In all honesty, there’s no hard line answer. That said, I have an intense opinion about managing to impact rather than hours worked and I believe there are two simple things to consider around time off: performance and timing.

Performance: If you’re producing results and crushing the expectations of your role, no one should be questioning when you’re working and when you’re not.

I once worked with someone who was a machine when it came to fixing technical problems and was constantly online through nights, weekends, and holidays. The problem was that this person was in a leadership position and their role was not to actually fix the problems on their own; they were expected to develop those on their team to operate more efficiently so they could scale the function that they led. When this leader requested to take a three week vacation, there was a negative reaction and they were confused. They vocalized, “I’m working nonstop hours for this company. I’ve earned this.” In reality, it didn’t matter how many hours they were putting in because they weren’t producing the results expected of their role.

Of course, I could go on and on about the massive disconnect between this person and their manager based on the fact that they didn’t understand that they were spending their time on the wrong things and ultimately underperforming. We’ll leave that to a later newsletter. My point here is that if you’re producing strong results relative to the expectations of your role, a time off request should be a no-brainer. If you’re not, then there may be push back - and rightfully so.

Timing: There are times when it’s appropriate to be away from work and times when it’s not. For sales people, end of quarter is an unwritten no-no. For finance people, month-end, quarter-end, and year-end are typically avoided. For HR folks, you better not even think of taking vacation during performance review season. You get the idea.

Choosing an appropriate time for vacation with respect to your role and the business is critical. Timing is everything.

I want to add that I strongly believe that every full time employee should be taking a minimum of three to four weeks off each year and, at least two of those times, should be for one consecutive week or more. We give so much to our work and simply cannot be our best selves, personally or professionally, without regularly refilling our cup.

Quick note that the above opinions have to do with vacation and personal time off. They do not apply to any sort of parental, medical, or family leave. Those are a whole different ball game - one I’m very passionate about and will be discussing in future editions.

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What I’ll Answer Next Time:

I saw a job similar to mine posted with a compensation range that’s higher than what I currently make. What should I do?

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Disclaimer: This newsletter is purely opinion-based and nothing included should be interpreted or construed as legal or professional advice. If you want professional advice, I’d love to work with you. Please reach out.