For many of us, the word holiday evokes palm trees, sun-soaked beaches, or the peaceful stillness of a countryside retreat, or even action-packed adventure. It’s supposed to be a time of reward for our hard work. In fact, for many professionals today, the period before and after a holiday can feel more taxing than everyday working life.
So why has something designed to replenish us become a source of doom?
The pre-holiday panic
It starts innocently enough. You book your holiday, perhaps months in advance, imagining a future version of yourself sipping coffee in a cobbled street café or finally catching up on a good book by the sea. But as the departure date approaches, your to-do list begins to increase. Projects need to be wrapped up. Emails answered. Meetings doubled up. The fear of leaving anything unfinished begins to take hold.
In many workplaces, there’s a silent understanding: if you’re going to take time off, you need to “earn” it by doing double the work before you go. You might find yourself working late, sacrificing weekends or forgoing sleep in an effort to clear the decks. It’s not uncommon to become physically ill just before departure, run down from the pressure of trying to be temporarily “replaceable” in a system that rarely allows for it.
Resting to recover
When we do finally reach our holiday, many of us spend the first few days decompressing, or worse, recovering. The excitement of the trip might be clouded by fatigue or illness, as our bodies force us to stop.
Rather than using holidays to explore, connect, or be inspired, we’re often just using them to recover. This kind of break isn’t the joy it’s meant to be, it’s triage. And because we know what’s waiting for us when we return, we struggle to be truly present. Instead, we spend time worrying about the mountain of emails and the state of projects that will be waiting on our desk.
The dreaded return
Despite your best efforts, tasks have piled up, new ones have been added, and you’re expected to hit the ground running. Some of us even put off holidays altogether because the “catch-up” feels too overwhelming. It begs the question: what’s the point of taking a holiday if you come back more stressed than when you left?
This cycle is all too common. It prompts a deeper examination of the systems we’re part of.
A flawed culture?
Is this merely a symptom of individual poor planning, or is there a structural problem at play?
In many corporate environments, especially in Western cultures, there’s an implicit expectation of constant availability. Rest is not always respected, it’s tolerated. Being seen as indispensable becomes a badge of honour, even if it means sacrificing personal well-being. The idea of a truly “unplugged” holiday is rare, and often covertly discouraged. Out-of-office replies are often peppered with “I’ll be checking my emails periodically” or “available for urgent matters,” a sign that we’re not really allowed to disconnect.
Some talk a good game about balance, but in practice, organisations depend on the overcommitment of their employees to meet impossible deadlines and relentless profit or productivity targets. It’s a culture that quietly rewards burnout and punishes boundaries.
Are employees to blame?
It’s not entirely fair, or constructive to lay the blame solely at the feet of employers. Employees also play a role in perpetuating this cycle. We allow the pressure. We internalise the expectations. Many of us have tied our sense of identity and self-worth to our performance at work. We worry about being perceived as replaceable or lazy. We check our emails on the beach not because anyone told us to, but because we feel guilty if we don’t.
And some of us are simply afraid of missing out, of being left behind, of job insecurity in competitive industries. In this sense, we are complicit, albeit under duress.
Breaking the cycle
A cultural shift is needed, one that starts both from the top and within us. Companies must lead by example, not only encouraging holidays but actively supporting staff before, during, and after time off. That means realistic workloads, cross-training teams, and truly respecting boundaries. This comes at a cost and how realistic it is to achieve, is a valid question.
Employees, on the other hand, need to redefine success. A sustainable career is not one that grinds us down; it’s one that honours our humanity. We need to value rest, not as a reward but a crucial part of our life. It means saying no when it matters, taking real breaks, and allowing ourselves the basic act of logging off without guilt. All of this requires us to give ourselves permission.
In the end, a holiday shouldn’t feel like an escape from life. It should be a part of a life well-lived. If the way we work makes rest feel like another job, then perhaps the system is broken.
