Release the Time

Your time away from work is a right, not a response to burnout. We’re sharing how Digitas employees work toward a healthy relationship with PTO, set boundaries between work and life, and give their best advice for junior talent just starting out in their careers.

Danisha Lomax, SVP National Paid Social Lead/Head of Media

How long are we going to do this? The "this" I am writing about is burnout. People are overwhelmed and, worse, burnt out. Even Queen Bey knows. I mean, last month, she dropped Break My Soul, and it's been featured in thousands of folks' stories on Instagram and streamed 14M times since its release. The magical thing about the drop was that it was released on my 38th birthday. So I jumped up, released my jiggle (shout-out to Big Freedia), and got to reflecting. Am I wired for stress or just adapting to a system created to break my soul?

It's been three years since I've had a vacation. I mean, I've taken single days of PTO here and there. Maybe even two days to celebrate Mother's Day. But even with the pandemic we're still collectively experiencing, it's been three years since I took a vacation. As a mom of two school-aged children, society tells me I'm supposed to be in prime vacation mode because my now 13-year-old needs to develop new ways of experiencing life as she enters her first year as a teen, and my seven-year-old gets to reap the benefits (what a sweet deal being the youngest). However, my identity also includes being the sole provider for my children, so even with unlimited PTO as a corporate policy, scheduling vacations that don't conflict with school and providing are few and far between.

I work in an industry that wins awards and new business based on claims that we are "always on," no matter what. Even when taking a PTO day here or there, I still check email because I don't want to be in "email overwhelm" when I return. Or I offer to take client calls if necessary. I was on the burnout train, probably even driving the train. With my "Break my Soul" reflection, I realized that I still operate in ways that perpetuate an old way of being and thinking that does not serve me or anyone. Because I'm still unlearning guilt and shame, I've internalized how capitalism systematically places work above all else, especially community care. I purposefully am not using the term self-care because it, in its current form, is individualistic and assumes that we are alone in our need for care. And we are not. We all need a check, but we can practice conscious capitalism, which means community care.

Times are changing. Our old strategies and playbooks don't work. Full stop. We are grieving the loss of people, being outside and what we used to know. The current system wants us to move on because the system was created to break our souls. So you know what that means? It's time to create something new. And Queen Bey has affirmed us y'all. She said, "If you don't seek it, you won't see it. That we all know. If you don't think it, you won't be it."

To release the time, I will plan, book, and block my PTO on my calendar as far in advance as possible. Your good Judy D.

Derek Jech, SVP, Business Development Lead

When individuals find out that I’ve been working in New Business for 13 years, the most common question I get asked is “how?” And the answer has always been easy for me, “my team.” When you work with people you love, work doesn’t always feel like work. I’ve been blessed with team members, many of whom have come and gone, who I consider lifelong friends, and some I’d even consider family.

For years, and for good or bad, I viewed New Business as a 24/7/365 capability. It was ingrained in me from the beginning of my career that pitches always had to mean late nights, submitting RIGHT before the deadline, and drama….there was always going to be some drama. And fine, I live in NYC, and I’m in advertising. There’s some part of me that has to love the drama that comes with that territory, right?

But when I became the head of the capability for my region, and especially once Covid hit, I had to really stop and reflect on whether it was all worth it. Was this what I should be doing? How could I keep going like this? We had one of our most successful years during 2020, but it came with a cost. We were TIRED. I was drained, and I knew if I was exhausted, my team had to be too, if not more. But where were we going to take PTO? It felt silly. I’m going to take a day off to stay in my apartment and just not open my computer? Actually, yes. And I’m going to start doing that for the rest of my life. There is power in disconnecting and it took Covid to teach me that.

My team is my greatest asset. They are dependable, smart, and fully capable of handling anything that comes their way. But “knowing” that and “leveraging” that came hard for me. It wasn’t until February of this year when I had a family emergency that taught me the power of a team. I had to give 100% of myself to something besides work, and I had to fully rely on them. They excelled, and that’s why I feel comfortable with implementing some of the rules I have for myself going forward:

An emergency (regardless of what type: dental, life, or death) should be met with the same parameters “I’m unavailable and I’ll let you know when I am back online”
No one, unless they have told you they prefer to work late at night or are in another time zone, needs an email at 3am. Use Outlook’s “Delay Delivery” feature when possible.
Always schedule a day between when you get back from a vacation and when you go back to work. No one needs a jet-lagged colleague on any call. Take that day to reset your mind and do the chores that are necessary when returning home from time away.

Julie Bourne, Lead Content Strategist, GroupeConnect

Ask honest questions about PTO when you’re interviewing: what’s the team culture around PTO? What is your potential manager’s perspective on PTO? How often do they take PTO? If they’re not setting the example themselves, that might signal an unhealthy relationship with work that almost inevitably trickles down.

Katie Stanford, SVP, Project Management

A few years ago, I was planning to take three weeks off as part of my sabbatical and was really struggling with feeling guilty for taking so much time off.  A coach encouraged me to consider that time part of my compensation.  If I don’t take it, then I am leaving money on the table that I have earned.  That mindset really helped me.

Leo Seeley, Associate Director, Digital Production

One huge factor IMO is that there need to be solid boundaries between work + non-work time. This is already entering into law in some countries (where it's illegal to email/message/call your employees outside certain hours). A GREAT way to help a cultural shift on this is for team leads/management to not  respond to things outside work hours because then everyone else won't feel pressured to.

Cara Vainisi, Manager, Precision

I find that setting boundaries is easier if I block off my calendar in order to give myself time to reset, eat lunch, and of course, log off and on at a time that works for me. I turn off notifications on Teams and email on my phone when I am not working. And I let people know during the day if I'm stepping away for a mental health refresh.

Sierra Reed, VP, Social Strategy

I encourage people to delete anything related to work from their devices when they are on PTO. It's too easy to "just check Teams" or "read this quick email out of curiosity."

Cara Eskin, SVP,  Media

Words to Live By: We’ve earned the PTO. Use it. We don’t get bonus points for not taking PTO.  It actually could have the reverse effect.

Pending the length of PTO, I ask teams to not cc me on emails.  Gives me less anxiety coming back and having hundreds of emails to sift through upon return (that I'll never realistically get through).  I’d rather come back and set up time with x teammates to provide an update of the most important happenings/to-do’s & then determine where I jump back into the day-to-day.

Dana Lussier, Manager, Data & Analysis

In my first few years, I misinterpreted “burnout” as something I had to push through. If I finished this bad week, next week would be better, however, it’s not the solution. You have to heal/overcome burnout, not push through it. Like an illness or injury, it requires some slight pull back to rest the muscles and time to heal at those lower levels. There’s never a good time to take a break in client services so it (PTO) just needs to be prioritized.

Sammie Legaspi, Associate Director, Talent

Although I haven’t been able to take trips as often, I’ve spent the past few years taking time off to focus on accomplishing things I’ve put off (took online courses for the past couple of years and got my Graphic & Digital Design Certificate from Parsons School of Design), discovering what truly brings me joy, and taking moments to just breathe and be. This was the time that I gained that went towards true self-discovery (yay to birth charts and tarot card readings). I’ve loved getting to know myself more!