Almost, because for many colleagues, a day off in a working week is a good reason to add a few days off, especially if it falls during school holidays. Spending all vacation days (eight weeks!) is quite a challenge at TU/e. How you are going to use your vacation days is therefore a mandatory part of discussion during the annual appraisal. Are you spending them, or do you have them paid out?

Not taking your days cost the support services or departments a lot of money.  But on the other hand, holidays also take a lot of time. During that time, the work just accumulates. This must be caught up in one way or another. While, according to the recently published Employee Experience Survey (EES), a majority of employees is already experiencing a high workload, especially the scientific staff.

I took a few extra days off as well. Time for the garden, the terrace and the sun. Once back on campus I tackled the full mailbox. I'm almost back to normal again. To be honest, even this column will be submitted after the deadline. And I also work through it a little longer. No stress yet.

By the way, for those who do like Mondays, but hate Tuesdays, there is good news next month: because there are so many Mondays without education, the educational program of Monday June 9 will run on Tuesday June 10, the day after the Pentecost weekend. So, this year there is a bonus day for those who love a good Monday!

Annemarie van Malsen is a communications officer at TU/e’s Department of Industrial Design. The views expressed in this column are her own.