The sound of a holiday is usually a moment of happiness for both the workers and the learners. Who would detest getting more rest and engaging in different activities to de-stress and feel rejuvenated? I guess no one. Most people have forgotten what it looks like to rest in a bid to settle bills. Every day,we wake up to face the hustles and bustles of life, striving to meet work targets and maintain our jobs too.

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Nowadays, it's even weird to know that some companies, not even health-related ones, force their staff to work on weekends by rotation anyway, but it still doesn't sound good enough.
I was in the clinic last week, and then the woman in the record department shouted at me aggressively simply because I asked a question. I was confused because it wasn't a question to flare her up, but it did. After a few minutes, she called me back from where I was already seated and started apologizing to me. She said she acted due to overstress. I looked into her eyes, and she was even feeling sleepy. She started telling me how the job was draining both her water and blood from her system. For her to report to work, she has to leave her home by 4:30 am and arrive by 8 am due to the usual Lagos traffic. Getting home is also during the late hour, and the cycle continues from Monday to Friday. I remember telling her to resign and look for another, closer job, but she said it was risky due to financial responsibilities.

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This same experience of this woman is the same for many workers in our society today. The demand from workers is just so much, causing overworking, burnout, and stress, and thus the need for more holidays in certain situations for workers, as this will even make the workers return with a renewed mind after rest, providing more productivity.
So I thought about having workers work on alternative days while observing remote work on the days when they are at home, but I realized that this idea wouldn't favor every worker and could affect the health sector too. I thought about having extra holidays for workers during the summer as the kids will be at home and their working-class parents can have more time with them, but again, it wouldn't favor everyone. However, below are some are some suggestions that I think can work for every worker while we advocate for more holidays:

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Health checks: For better productivity, workers need to be in the right state of health. How about giving workers an extra holiday for all-round body checks? Some workers manage their health because they are scared of losing their jobs if they miss going to work for a few days. Where I worked before, any day you miss work, your salary will be deducted by #5,000, and you see people overlooking their health until it becomes unbearable. I think this holiday idea sounds great for workers, but only if it is implemented.

Personal development: the world keeps evolving, and to stay updated, every worker needs self-development so as to remain relevant to the organization, and this highlights the need for extra holiday in this aspect.

Anniversaries: There are different anniversaries we all observe at different times of the year. I think it's a kind of motivation for workers, allowing them to stay at home during this moment of their lives to celebrate and be happy.

Rounding up

The holiday period offers us the opportunity to do things that give us pleasure and help us de-stress for a more healthy lifestyle. I think giving workers some personal time off and providing them with more holidays is one of the most effective ways to lessen their stress, and they will return to work with a renewed positive mindset and more creative thinking.

Thanks for reading through ♥️♥️♥️

This post is in response to the #hivelearners contest on the topic titled, We Need More Holidays

Images were taken and edited in canva