Millennials might have Instagram profiles and Twitter feeds boasting adventurous road trips and hard-partying weekends, but what you’re looking at is their highlight reel. In reality, many millennials are doing way more than boozing and brunching. It’s actually a generation of workaholics.
A new survey from Project: Time Off revealed millennials, more than any other generation, see themselves as “work martyrs” and forfeit their unused vacation days.
Rihanna said it best: “work, work, work, work, work.”
And then, apparently, work some more.
The work mindset of millennials
I’ve always “enjoyed” working, and have consistently kept some type of job since I was 16 years old. There was a brief period after college graduation where I truly had nothing to fill my days, and I felt anxious and unhappy the entire time, when I really should have been enjoying those few, rare weeks off.
At first, I thought my affinity for work could be boiled down to my (severely) Type A personality, but I’ve found that the emphasis on work instead of play is actually incredibly common for millennials. There are a slew of reasons we’ve become a generation of workaholics. While some might be glaringly obvious, others come in at a more subconscious level.
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The need to constantly be ‘on’
We’ve been raised in an era where ordering dinner, a car or even a plumber is as easy as tapping an app on our phone, and we’ve experienced a reality where technological advances have made our lives drastically easier.
But, it’s a double-edged sword. That tech overhaul has made it hard for us to disconnect. On too many occasions, I’ve sat at the bar at happy hour, trying to decompress and enjoy the company of my friends. But, with their eyes glued to their iPhones and their fingers furiously typing out emails, the task of relaxing is almost impossible.
Unlike previous generations, when we walk out the door of the office, that doesn’t mean we are free of our job’s responsibilities. As long as we have our phones in our pocket and laptops in our bag, we can never truly escape the pressure of always needing to be “on.”
“Either because of personal guilt, or because a boss has set the example of being always-on, we often feel the need to check email or Slack, even from the beach,” my friend Andrew said.
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Overcoming labels like ‘lazy’ and ‘entitled’
Then, there’s the argument that we feel like we have something to prove.
As a generation, we’ve been slapped with labels like “coddled” and “entitled,” and have been met with low expectations from older adults. I’m sure other generations have experienced their fair share of criticism, too, but the backlash toward millennials feels particularly harsh.
It seems like we’re condemned for everything from our selfie-snapping habits to our love for brunch, but labels like “lazy” hit the hardest.
“Part of me feels like it’s a perception thing,” my buddy Luke told me. “You have older people always complaining that millennials are entitled and lazy. So, subconsciously, I think some of us are trying to prove them wrong on that front. I think that also makes us hesitant to request days off, because we don’t want to appear as lazy or slacking off to our bosses.”
Benefits of vacation
The benefits of taking a vacation from your job have been researched, recorded and proven.
Whether it’s simply taking the night off from checking email or escaping your 9-to-5 routine for a few weeks, taking time off from work is not only essential to your well-being but works wonders on your productivity level as an employee.
Another study from Project: Time Off found that employees who take all of their allocated vacation time increase their chances of getting a raise or promotion by 6.5%, compared with people who leave 11 or more days of paid vacation unused. If you’ve been trying to climb the corporate ladder as quickly as possibly by pulling late nights at work and forfeiting your vacation time, sorry, but you’re doing it wrong.
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Still not convinced you should finally take that vacation you’ve been secretly daydreaming about for months now? Taking time off has been linked to a decrease in heart disease, improves your mental health and is even good for your relationships. Being the sulking, sick employee that’s sipping their coffee in the corner of the break room likely won’t get you that raise you’ve been coveting.
Millennials, you deserve to take some time off.
Whether you spend it relaxing on a beach or in the midst of a hyped-up music festival is up to you, but either way, you need to do it, for the sake of your career.
Life is much more than deadlines and projects, and if you have the self-control to finally mute your iPhone email notifications and truly disconnect, you’ll begin to realize that.
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