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Tell HN: Take vacation

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Re: Tell HN: Take vacation

#61

Post by rip747 »

Ever once in a while we see posts about how important it is to take a vacation, but one thing we never see is about actually planning and budgeting in order to be able to take one.

What are the ways people currently budget for vacations?

Personally the way I do it now is I actually have a separate checking account that is used _specifically_ for vacations, _end of list_. Every time i do a consulting gig, I break it down the money like this:

33% - into business checking account for taxes

the remaining 66% is broken down to:

25% - another business checking account for expenses 25% - into a personal savings account 25% - into the vacation checking account 25% - to paying off debt (CC, mortgage, whatever)

Re: Tell HN: Take vacation

#62

Post by shurcooL »

lemming wrote: post #43
DanielStraight wrote: post #7

Let's see if I can cover this entire comment thread in one comment. Taking a break is good for most people. It can help prevent burnout. People vary greatly in their ability to take vacation due to income, work and family requirements. People vary even more in what they consider to be a good vacation. Some people like a lot of activity. Some people like lying around. Some people honestly don't like taking time off wo…

In other words, there is no way to make a meaningful universal statement about vacation. Except this bit: Taking a break is good for most people.

But... but it kills your github contribution streak.

Re: Tell HN: Take vacation

#63

Post by Diederich »

DanielStraight wrote: post #7

Let's see if I can cover this entire comment thread in one comment. Taking a break is good for most people. It can help prevent burnout. People vary greatly in their ability to take vacation due to income, work and family requirements. People vary even more in what they consider to be a good vacation. Some people like a lot of activity. Some people like lying around. Some people honestly don't like taking time off wo…

I'll add one bit of colour. At the three places I have worked since 1997, specifically, the teams in those places, vacation/PTO time wasn't rigorously tracked. All three companies officially had vacation and tracked it, but the teams and managers I worked with didn't.

We did put in for vacation, but if we came back early, or extended it a few days (with reasonable notice), it probably would not ever go into the system.

If we were out of the office a day unexpectedly due to illness or family thing, that was almost never put into the system.

If we wanted to take a vacation longer than the number of days we had available, that was just allowed.

From 1997 until 2009 I worked for an enormous (at one time, 'Fortune 1') company. From 2009 until now, I've worked for a pair of mature tech companies in the SF Bay Area.

In my personal experience, it all came down to the nature of the teams you were on, and the managers.

Re: Tell HN: Take vacation

#64

Post by donretag »

That's funny you should mention vacation. Like many, I am a tad bit burnt out, but my company will not let any employee take vacation in July to prepare for their annual convention. Not a single employee can take off for 30 days, regardless of position.

Re: Tell HN: Take vacation

#65

Post by wizzard »

hipsterrific wrote: post #57
wizzard wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am currently on an indefinite hiatus/sabbatical/vacation after quitting my job at the beginning of June. I had been working on a project I didn't enjoy for a year and a half, culminating in the most horrible failed iterations I've ever been a part of: a new feature we started last November -- that should have taken maybe two months -- didn't get finalized until May. I've never been so discouraged and burned out on…

If I didn't have bills I needed to pay, I would take a longer hiatus. Earlier this year, I was let go from my position as a senior software engineer. My review months before was like "you're a great dev, here's a 4% raise" and then a few months later "Your performance is horrible, you're fired." Immediately, I began looking for work but I knew I needed to heal from the experience. I have a job now but there are times…

I'm sorry that happened to you. I think thoughtful feedback is so important (for any job!) but it never seems to happen. If you're doing well, you might get a generic pat on the back. If you go off the rails you don't hear about it until it's practically too late, if at all. It's one of those things where if everything's going OK, it's like your team doesn't even exist, but if something goes wrong suddenly upper management knows all your names.

Re: Tell HN: Take vacation

#66

Post by my_username_is_ »

DanielStraight wrote: post #7

Let's see if I can cover this entire comment thread in one comment. Taking a break is good for most people. It can help prevent burnout. People vary greatly in their ability to take vacation due to income, work and family requirements. People vary even more in what they consider to be a good vacation. Some people like a lot of activity. Some people like lying around. Some people honestly don't like taking time off wo…

I'm curious if any companies have required (minimum) amounts of vacation. Taking a break seems to be a general positive for productivity, but people with unlimited vacation seem to not take it. What if you were obligated to?

Re: Tell HN: Take vacation

#68

Post by nicolethenerd »

michaelochurch wrote: post #40
edpichler wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, every people is different. There isn't the "formula for all". I'm from Brazil and got curious about the "unlimited vacation", how it works?

I'm from Brazil and got curious about the "unlimited vacation", how it works? The U.S. is the only advanced economy without a vacation floor. (To join the EU, 20 days is the lower limit.) Three weeks is typical for an average job (but some companies are sleazy and pool sick time and vacation under "PTO") and two for a crap job. It's surprising how reliably you can predict the quality of a company and job based on vac…

Honestly curious, what is the alternative to PTO? I don't see why this is such a bad thing - you get X days off, you can use them for whatever reason you want - sick or vacation - as long as X is a reasonable number, what's the issue here?

Re: Tell HN: Take vacation

#69

Post by andrewd18 »

shurcooL wrote: post #62
lemming wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In other words, there is no way to make a meaningful universal statement about vacation. Except this bit: Taking a break is good for most people.

But... but it kills your github contribution streak.

Quick, before you go, write two scripts and corresponding cron jobs that convert tabs to N spaces, or N spaces to tabs. Then, set them up to commit to your favorite repo on alternating days.

Now you can enjoy your vacation while pissing off your fellow contributors at the same time!

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