A few months ago, I came up with the idea of turning vacation days into miniature retreats. I thought I’d redux the short article here as a kickoff to the long weekend.

It is my belief that the socially accepted pattern of 5 days of ‘work’ and 2 days of ‘weekend’ bears down on humans more than we’re meant to withstand. Many of us, too tired to complete household chores after work, end up turning weekends into work days just to try and catch up with the rest of our lives.

It’ll never happen at this rate.

I have a habit of viewing company holidays or vacation days as a way to catch up on housework and my todo lists. This is a terrible plan for any of us. We really need sabbaticals. The (obvious) goal of time management is to actually do stuff. However, at the core of human mental and physical health is the fact that we really need to take a break from time to time.

Ideas for making this happen:

• Every ten weeks or so, take a day off from everything. Schedule this in a clever way. It could even be a weekend day. Make sure the affected people know about it and are willing to help you make the day work out (by leaving you alone).
• On these days — five a year certainly doesn’t sound like an awful lot, but it will serve you well if done effectively — don’t glance at your lists, email, or calendars, and only answer the phone if it isn’t going to make work for you or make you feel like you’re working. Friendly, pleasant conversations only.
• Make sure you hit the ground running afterwards. This mini-retreat should refresh and invigorate you to be insanely productive for at least the next week, and it should keep you going without dread and heartache until the next one.

If you’re like me, you could use one of these days immediately. If your Thanksgiving holiday is already booked solid, go flip through your calendar and find the day now. It could be your next company holiday, your birthday, or this coming Saturday. Remember the rules, and stick to them. It’ll be grand.