Corporatizing holidays: the beginning of the end?
I had a week off work in July, away from the phone, screens, and email. It was blissful.
I enjoyed family time without the nagging presence of a schedule. I caught up with dear friends. I read books. I chatted. I experienced a big dollop of nature. And I slept.
I didn’t take holiday because it would make me more effective at work. I didn’t take it because my productivity would be increased by rest. I didn’t take it because a week away would super-charge my creativity.
I took it because having a holiday is more fun than working.
I took it because rising naturally is more enjoyable than waking to an alarm. I took it because I prefer hill walking to keyboard bashing. I took it because I prefer reading novels to emails.
It’s summer holiday time in much of Europe and America, and winter break time here in Australia. If you’re fortunate enough to be one of those people on the planet for whom the concept of ‘holiday’ exists, don’t go ruining it by using work to justify your rest.
You see, for a while now, I’ve been wondering when it became necessary for us to validate our choice to holiday by referencing its impact on work. Have we unconsciously imbibed the corporate Kool-Aid that frames vacation time in the context of productivity? In doing so, have we corporatized one of the few remaining preciously non-corporate aspects of our lives?
Let's not forget that the corporatization of rest is a recent phenomenon. Our ancestors, if they were fortunate enough to have recreation time, didn't feel the need to rationalise their leisure. At what point, then, did this change? With mass production? Taylorism? Or "purpose-driven" capitalism? *
Rest does not exist because it enables hard work. It doesn’t exist to make us better at work. It exists because of our hard work, to provide enjoyment and relaxation. It exists because it makes us feel good.
And that is reason enough to close the laptop, switch off the alarm and take a break.
#lawfirms #lawyers #lawyerlife #holiday #vacation #rest
*for more, see James Suzman's book published in 2020: 'Work - A History of How we Spend our Time'
