Waking up at 4:30 a.m. to get to the gym by 5:00 a.m. then racing home to get ready for the workday that starts before 8:00 a.m. I work through lunch in order to attempt to get out of the office in time to fight rush hour traffic to get to my three plus hour night class. Back home to finish last minute work projects, homework and housework only to get in to bed and set the alarm to wake up in four hours and repeat. This schedule is exhausting, yet rewarding. I often fantasize about laying on the beach soaking up the sun, but a vacation is just not an option, even though I currently bank 100 plus hours in earned time off.

If I worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers, an American accounting firm, the limited vacation time, or the opportunity to take vacation time, would be an obstacle of the past. PricewaterhouseCoopers shuts down their entire national operation twice a year to ensure that their employees actually stop working.  Their offices are shut and locked for 10 days over Christmas break and five days around the Fourth of July. This policy was created to combat the “shrinking-vacation syndrome” that is becoming dominant across the country. In the New York Times article from August 20, 2006, The Rise of Shrinking-Vacation Syndrome by Timothy Egan, stated that according to The Travel Industry Association, the average American reported that summer that they expected their longest vacation to last only 6 days at most, and with the latest technology work is accessible via phone and email anywhere.

My favorite vacation in the past three-and-a-half years was when my husband and I went on a cruise for a week and a half on our honeymoon. We were able to relax and spend quality time together without worrying about work. We were on international waters, our cell phones didn’t have reception and the price of the internet in the computer bank was exorbitant. After a few days we were worried about what leisure activity to partake in next, instead of the day-to-day dramas back in the office.  Since our honeymoon we have been on a few shorter vacations, usually long weekends that have been plagued with phone calls, voicemails and emails from the office. Once we were at Cape Cod on a tour of Provincetown and within five minutes of each other we both received phone calls from the office about supposed emergencies. We were never able to completely escape the office, and in the process we were never really able to shut out the work stresses.

I think that if more organizations followed in the steps of PricewaterhouseCoopers, it would give their employees the opportunity to refresh and reboot and in the long run will help their employees be more productive.  When an entire organization shuts down there is no one in the office emailing the employees, calling or texting the employees – cutting into their vacation time. This way the entire company can enjoy some time disconnected. If everyone had an opportunity to take a break, the workplace might be a happier and more productive environment. Or atleast we can dream it…