The Holiday Dilemma: Rest vs. Productivity

Everybody loves holidays. It’s that time you get to rest, spend time with family, or just escape from the usual stress of life. But sometimes, I look at the calendar and wonder if the holidays we have are enough. I mean, out of 365 days in a year, how many times do we have a holiday? Some people feel there should be more holidays because life itself is already too stressful. But then again, too much of it might slow down the economy and affect productivity. So the question is, do we really need more holidays, or should we stick with what we already have? heheheh, I know what the workers reading this are thinking, and I can tell you, I am thinking the same thing too. You want to know my thoughts? Ok, read on.

I always thought India was the country with the most holidays, which made me want to relocate to India, but after a careful research, I will be telling you the top 5 countries with the most holidays and the number of holidays they have in the complete 365 days in a year.

• Nepal - 35
• Myanmar - 32
• Iran - 26
• Sri Lanka- 25
• Bangladesh / Egypt - 22

This is a really small number of holidays compared to my country, which has around 15 public holidays in a year, and I can tell you as a person that it is not enough. As a person, I think my country needs more holidays because most of the people in the country are not getting enough benefit from the taxes they pay, which could make their lives easier; all they do is work every time. Some of the working class are lucky because they don't get to go to work on Saturday and Sunday, and these days are nothing compared to the amount of stress that has been built up during the week.

Now, I am not saying that we should get a holiday every single time in a month, but I am saying the number of holidays should be increased to ease the burnout that many people go through. Also, I would like the government to make sure that every holiday period is well monitored so that workers don't go to work.

It is so sad to see some companies, especially manufacturing companies, mandate workers to be at work on holiday because the company needs to produce more. In a country with just 15 days of holiday out of 365 days, and there is a mandate that all labourers should be in work on holidays, it's not fair in any sense.

I remember my day resuming to work after the 26th of December, that week was meant to be a holiday all over the world, but not everyone saw it as a holiday, they only saw it as workers staying at home and earning for doing nothing.

But then again, too many holidays can also be a problem. Imagine a country where almost every other week is a holiday, how do you expect businesses to grow? Shops will close, offices will shut down, schools won’t run smoothly, and production will drop. In the long run, the economy begins to suffer because while people are resting, the work that drives the nation forward is being delayed. Investors may also look at such a country and think twice, because no one wants to put money where productivity is constantly on hold. Manufacturers might decide to get AI powered machine to do the job for them.

So, as much as we all love holidays (and I do too), there has to be a balance. Enough to give people time to rest and refresh, but not too much that it slows down the progress of the whole country. At the end of the day, what we need is not just more holidays, but better working conditions and a system where the holidays we do have are respected and enjoyed by everyone.

Thanks for reading. My name is Fashtioluwa. Image used is mine.