THE BENEFITS OF SUFFICIENT HOLIDAYS

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While some might say that we have a lot of holidays in my country’s calendar year, I would disagree with that statement. The total number of holidays we have in my country is around twelve to thirteen holidays. These include New Year’s Day, Easter celebration, Salah celebration, Workers' Day, Democracy Day, Independence Day, the birth of Prophet Muhammad, and lastly, Christmas celebration.

These holidays mostly fall in the first and second quarters of the year, with some also occurring in the third quarter. And the last quarter barely has many holidays, which start from September to December. What I noticed is that we have fewer holidays during this time, mostly a holiday before the Christmas break. The year starts with a holiday, which is the first day, and I think it is the same with the rest of the world; we have a few holidays in between, some of which are religious holidays, as I have mentioned earlier. These holidays are mostly one-day holidays, and at most, two days; they are rarely three-day holidays.

With the holidays we have in my country, I still feel that there are not enough holidays. The holidays should include every Friday of the week, since Fridays are usually half days. Imagine if we only needed to go to work Mondays to Thursdays, and we had the rest of the days in the week to rest and do whatever we so desire. These days, it feels as though the weekend has become shorter; you wake up, it is Friday, and before you know it, it is another Monday, and you are getting set for another work week.

The economy can survive more holidays; in fact, I feel that having more holidays will only increase the productivity of individuals. When workers are rested well, they tend to be more productive, and this will have an impact on the economy at large. In this day and age, it has been observed that a lot of the working population can work from home, which studies show is more productive than in a normal office space. The office houses more distractions, and the time used to commute to work is another downside.

Just like the creativity and the thoughtfulness that brought about working from home, it will be so cherished by me and many others if the holidays are interesting, especially by making every Friday a free work day. This, I believe, will make time for complete relaxation and strength replenishment for workers and, in turn, help them work more productively. It has been discovered in so much research that holidays help an individual’s creativity levels and also with the individual’s mood, which in turn boosts the productivity of the firm or organisation the individual is working with. Having more holidays is not only good for the individual, it is also good for the economy as improved productivity of the individual equals increased productivity for the firm and in the end equals growth of the economy as a whole.

Thank you for reading. My name is @rishagamo, and this is my response to the Hive Learners weekly Featured Content Week 184 Episode 02: “HOLIDAY SEASON”.