'Rest' is a word that eludes most workers these days, look around you, there isn't how you won't find an adult who doesn't complain about stress, health issues( major or minor) related to their stressful overtime jobs, and most importantly insufficient salaries, in a bid to be responsible adult we take up jobs that help us settle at least some if not all of our bills, and staying dedicated to your job means it taking all of our time, although the working days for most workers here in my country is from Monday to Friday, it even extends beyond that for certain types of jobs mine included,

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This week's prompt reminded me of a skit that was shared in my church's women's WhatsApp group platform, an excerpt was taken from the last Mother's Day occasion, where some group of women was joyfully dancing, one of us decided to turn it to a funny skit, captioning it "Because it's a holiday week" the Eid fitr holiday that occurred for three working days is a genuine cause for celebration among workers, having more than enough time to rest and spend quality time with family, this further proves that they crave that more exceptional holiday apart from the one we are already used to.

The events we've seen unfolding especially as this year started is consistent inflation of everything that makes up a living cost, from food items, clothing, and transportation isn't excluded, it was even the very first aspect that got impacted with inflation, raiding the cost of lining for everyone, sadly, our income remains the same, if there is one thing we learned from the covid period, it's that not all jobs need their staffs to be physically present always, most of these jobs can be done remotely but some selfish organizations especially the private ones wouldn't want to put this into consideration even while aware of the terrible economic situation of the country.

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So if extra days need to be added for workers to have an extra bit of rest, it would be working in between days for me, Monday is still a good day to face work stress after the weekend's rest, but Tuesday and Thursday should be struck off, for them to at least work from home, when it's necessary, work in your pajamas, when tired, go straight to bed to feel refreshed then you continue from where you stopped feeling refreshed. And more importantly, you save the cost of transportation and also save yourself from stress.

I wish offices would adopt this strategy, to make it even better, they could choose to mix the dates up so the office isn't left completely empty when others are at home, some could have their ON day, and vice versa. Until then, would workers be fully happy about going to work, because they would feel considered and happy to do their jobs and also maintain a healthy work and family/personal life balance.

In a bid to settle bills, some of us have lost ourselves to our jobs, sacrificing quality family time in the process. But this approach of increased holiday time would be better for workers' overall wellbeing and productivity.

Adequate rest and rejuvenation should be a priority, not just for consideration, for workers and their employers. Human beings are not machines, we need periodic breaks to recharge our mental, physical, and emotional batteries. If we are always concerned about charging our phones every day, then imagine the human body, When we workers are overworked with no sufficient holiday time, it leads to burnout, disengagement, mistakes, lack of creativity, and poor mental/physical health, which I'm sure a lot of us can relate with.

Burnout, in particular, is becoming a costly epidemic, I wrote about it in a recent post of mine, do you know that this condition of mental stress is mostly caused by overworking hours and demanding work pressures? Symptoms include physical and emotional exhaustion, decreased productivity, and a lack of passion attitude towards one's job and even colleagues sometimes, read this post for more.

Providing workers with more holidays and personal time off is one of the most effective ways to prevent burnout. These extended breaks will allow workers to mentally disengage from the stress of their job intervally, and get refreshed through rest, returning to work feeling more rejuvenated with a renewed positive mindset. Workers with a healthy work-life balance will be the ones happier to get back to work, and not the mood we see on Monday morning by most workers, wishing the weekend rest would extend more because they would have in mind that Tuesday and Thursday are still there for them to rest from work.

Furthermore, the mental "reset" that holidays provide opens the mind up for more inspiration and creative thinking. When I call a friend of mine outside the country, I often hear comments like, "I worked 60 hours this week" and this is often used as a badge of honor signaling dedication rather than cause for concern that employees are being pushed too far. Coming back to my country, where companies, especially factory workers are overused, I have a friend who worked 24/7, the only time he takes a break is when he is on sick leave, you can imagine this terrible working duration. Overworking doesn't equal more productivity, in fact, it reduces it, so let's not pretend that it does, it's high time every employer began to recognize the immense benefits of providing periodic holidays, this includes, better health, a high level of creativity, productivity, and engagement that leads to increased profits over the long run.

It's high time we shift away from such a mindset of overworking being the only way we can earn enough income from ourselves and our family, neglecting them in the process only to be filled with regrets later.Beyond the workplace, the society as a whole benefits from workers having more quality leisure time to recharge and engage in hobbies, community activities, and family bonding, which help contribute to richer bonding and stronger connections with friends and family. Holiday time is an investment in not just employees' wellbeing but the wellbeing of our communities.

Thank you for reading.❤❤