The No-Reason-to-Take-a-Day-Off-of-Work Reason to Take a Day Off of Work (Approved by Sigmund Freud!)

  

The No-Reason-to-Take-a-Day-Off-of-Work

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Reason to Take a Day Off of Work (Approved by Sigmund Freud!)

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The thought hit me…this morning as I was getting ready for another day of work. I happen to be a freelance writer and my office is in our home.

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The dogs were walked, my wife was getting ready for her 9-5 shift in a more traditional workplace.

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I was preparing to make eggs for myself and was going to mop the muddy prints from the floor which the dogs had brought in from the backyard after a morning of drizzle in the Holy City of Jerusalem.

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I reached for the floor cleaner and the oil for the pan. I poured the floor cleaner into the sizzling griddle and dumped the cooking oil onto the floor! A second later as the house began to smell of boiling cleaning solution I realized my mistake and thought to myself in exasperation:

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"Holy SHIT Yoni, you need a day off of work!"

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It was then that my mind drifted back…many years. Just about fifteen to be exact. I had finished my Master’s Degree at West Virginia University (WVU) and had finished my internship at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Maryland.

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I was hired thereafter as a full-time employee in Sinai’s Department of Rehabilitation. It was while while I was in the Personnel Department filling out my employment papers that I noticed something strange. There was a form with a list of days off. The regular vacation days. Sick days. And…

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PSYCHOLOGICAL Days Off:

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I asked the clerk in the Personnel Office what these days were. Vacation days, she explained. Though not just any vacation days…

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Whereas sick days were days in which a note was needed from a doctor, "Psychological Days" required no such documentation. They were reserved entirely for those five or six days a year when each employee felt , whether due to stress, tension or whatever…that he or she was simply not in the right mindset to report to work.

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No excuse from a doctor needed; no bullshit "Ferris Bueller" excuse needed when making the phone call. No advanced notice needed. Simply: "This is fill in your name calling…I’m taking a psych day today!"

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Taking a Psych Day Today!

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I have work to do today. Research. An abstract. A speech to finish for a CEO’s retirement gala…

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But when I pour floor cleaner in an egg-pan and get ready to mop the floor with cooking oil, something tells me I’ve been working too hard.

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I’m getting the dog’s leashes on at this moment…the clouds have given way to sunshine…we’ll be going for a picnic lunch at "the Tayelet," a woodsy promenade which overlooks the Old City of Jerusalem. Lots of trees and nice hiking trails. And I’ve told my wife to take the afternoon off…we’ll be going out for an early dinner and a walk downtown.

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The truth is, I’m a freelancer. I have only myself to answer to. If I had strict deadlines with my current projects, I would plow on, clients and customers do come first. But the fact is tomorrow is another day.

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Today I’m taking advantage of a concept I learned many years ago. It’s about refreshing the proverbial batteries, clearing the head of cobwebs, resting and relaxing…

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And getting back the energy and focus for the long-haul!

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Next time you feel the pressure getting to you…

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Give yourself a day off…

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Consider it approved by Sigmund Freud!

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Image Credits:  Vacation icons: www.photoshopessentials.com; Man at Desk: www.weblogs.asp.net; Freud: www.nndb.com/people; Man with Dog: www.www.diomedia.com

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Yonatan Maisel is a Business blogger, history buff and author. He specializes in all aspects of Business writing.

From speeches to resumes, from corporate bios to research, from blogging to website content, from articles to ghost-writing, he provides the highest level of quality at a very reasonable price.

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