According to a recent survey by British Airways published in the Guardian, one third of us did not use our full annual leave entitlement last year. On average, we wasted four days each. Let that sink in for a minute – last year, some of us worked four days for free. Ouch.
Us Brits, it seems, need to take a fresh look at free time. All too often, we use a day’s leave to get our house in order or do life admin rather than relax. Perhaps we have a dentist’s appointment, need to wait in at home for the plumber or accompany the kids on a school trip. In short, too many of us aren’t using our well deserved downtime right. What kind of ‘holiday’ is that?
But what if you a booked a day off for no other purpose than to do something to benefit you or that you’d not otherwise have the chance to do? Rather than waste those days off, it’s time to enjoy them. With this in mind, here are 5 IDEAL ways to spend your surplus days off work.
DON’T HAVE A PLAN
The chance to recuperate and revitalize doesn’t happen every day – so how does a day without any goals beyond relaxing and recharging your batteries sound? Yep, good to us too. Stay in bed as long as you want. Have a leisurely breakfast or brunch and take time to read the newspaper or that book you’ve been meaning to pick up. Listen to music, take a long relaxing bubble bath, paint your toenails and apply a face mask. Or don’t even. Go for a walk, head to that boutique shop or the art gallery you don’t ever have time to visit during your usual chore-filled days off. Or just have a day watching movies in your PJ’s and an afternoon nap. Spend the day doing what you like when you want or do absolutely nothing at all – that’s the pleasure of having no plans.
IDEAL FOR: A little ‘me time’ and recharging the batteries. Doing absolutely nothing sometimes is actually rather good for you after all.
BAKE AWAY YOUR STRESS
When’s the last time you baked a cake, experimented with a cookie recipe or created a pavlova from scratch? The methodical nature of baking makes it a very therapeutic activity. First, you get to weigh and measure the ingredients, next you can appreciate their delicious aroma as they bake. And finally, you get to eat them too. You could even have the pleasure of sharing them with your nearest and dearest if you so wish. According to research (funded by the GBBO perhaps?), baking, especially when it’s done for others, has a host of psychological benefits. It’s been proven that people who take on creative projects like baking feel more relaxed and happier in their everyday lives. So it’s about time you put on your apron and cooked up some apple crumble or your favourite school traybake, don’t you think?
IDEAL for: Clearing the mind and out your cupboards. If you take some of your baked goods into the office when you return to work it may score you some brownie points too, literally.
GET YOUR HEART PUMPING
While some people’s idea of a therapeutic day is doing nothing at all, for others it’s all about trying new things. When you’re alarm goes off, it’s sometimes nice to know you’re doing something new and exciting rather than just getting ready and going off to work. If your daily life has become a little mundane of late, why not book yourself some kind of challenge? Is there something you’ve always wanted to do but never made time for? What activities would make taking a holiday day really worthwhile? From driving experience days spent racing sports cars to parachuting or learning the basics of flying a plane, why not explore ways to get your heart pumping. That way, on your next day out of the office you can make memories and tick activities off your personal bucket list.
IDEAL for: When you’re feeling a bit bored and are in need of a new challenge. Working your way through a few unusual activities will certainly give you some conversation starting material and you could discover a new hobby too.
CHANGE COUNTRY FOR A DAY
Do you fancy visiting a new country just for the day? Book some cheap flights in advance and choose your destination wisely – it’s a lot more doable than it sounds. You can pop to Paris from London in just a few hours by train, so if you’ve always wanted to visit La Louvre, why not pencil it in for your next day of vacay? A flight from Newcastle Upon Tyne to Amsterdam takes just one hour and 20 minutes, giving you plenty of time to hop on a bike and explore the city or to take a cruise by canal, have a little lunch and be home for dinner. How does a trip from Manchester to Berlin sound? In less than two hours you could be having kafe and kuchen in Germany’s capital. Or a trip from Edinburgh to Copenhagen in one hour and 45 minutes could see you exploring the capital of Scandi cool. Just don’t forget your passport and remember to tell someone you’re leaving the country, okay?
IDEAL for: Finding out where you’d like to holiday for longer, exploring new cuisines on your lunch hour and brushing up on your language skills.
SLEEP YOURSELF HAPPY
How are you sleeping? Do you get your eight hours in or is it a struggle? Whether you’re the proud parent of a sleep thief or you find work and your social life chip away at time spent in slumber, how does a day in bed sound? Not sleeping well can have such a disastrous impact on our mood that actually, if you’ve got the option, sometimes you might be better off taking a holiday day to sleep it off. Studies have found that not getting enough sleep is one the of biggest contributors to having a ‘bad day’. Research suggests that the best time to claw back hours lost is in the immediate aftermath. However, if your house is going to be occupied by your kids or housemates you may need to look for an alternative slumber spot. Why not kill two birds with one stone by spending a relaxing day at the spa or hairdressers? Now wouldn’t that be better than feeling drained and irritable all day?
IDEAL for: Preventing burnout, avoiding irritable bad mood days and indulging in essential downtime.