'We've become a nation of workaholics'

Need more evidence that the Five Day Weekend is the way of the future? May we present a new story by MSNBC titled "Take that vacation — it could help your career."

The article tackles America's workaholism and prevalent attitude of "rest is for the weak." What some companies are realizing is that healthy happy employees are better employees. Shocking!

Here's the meaty center of the article:

Companies are beginning to realize the benefits of vacations for their weary workers — fewer sick days, smaller health care bills and a more motivated workforce.

Unfortunately, not all employers get this, and sometimes it’s the workers themselves that don’t get this, either. They have a perverted view that not taking time off and keeping their nose to the grindstone will advance their career, or keep their jobs from ending up on the chopping block.

But in fact, it could lead to burnout, emotional and physical illness, and end up jeopardizing their careers, their lives.

So keep that in mind.

BTW: Today's photo is via gerryriskin.com, a lawyer blog that tackled the issue of workaholism.

We're not saying The Donald is a hypocrite, but...

It’s come as no surprise to us that the Five Day Weekend concept has its share of critics. But we were a bit surprised today to see that Donald Trump has come out swinging against us.

Sure, he’s an icon of hard work and the relentless drive for financial success. But you would also think he’d understand the economic boost that a longer weekend would mean for many American industries.

If we had a Five Day Weekend — or even if Americans just used the meager vacation time we’re given — just think would that would do for business at Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza, Trump Marina, Trump International Golf Links or the bevy of Trump International Hotel and Tower buildings going up around the world.

In his critique of the Five Day Weekend, Trump says:

“I rarely take vacations and I think that’s one of the reasons behind my organization’s success. You’ve got to put in the time to reap the rewards.”

First off, that’s big talk from a man who owns a vacation-planning Web site.

Second, if Trump is worth $2.9 billion and still hasn’t reached a level of success that justifies a vacation, when exactly should the rest of us plan to “reap the rewards” of our work? Is $3 billion the magic number?

We’re all about hard work and celebrating American success stories, but you’ll forgive those of us in Asheville if we look to a different tycoon for inspiration.

Did we call this or what?

We were already pumped from our kickoff rally in Asheville, and then we got another boost today with a Reuters story about vacation trends.

OK, so the story isn't exactly positive. In fact, it reiterates the entire reason behind the Five Day Weekend:

NEW YORK - More than half of U.S. workers fail to take all of their vacation days, according to a survey released on Wednesday.

Of the 56 percent who don't take advantage of all their allotted time, a third use half or less of their time off, according to a survey conducted for Hudson, the staffing and outsourcing arm of Hudson Highland Group, based in New York.

So why are we excited? Because we believe the solution to our massively broken vacation system is a longer weekend. And according to this article, we've got a pretty good leg to stand on:

One in five said they planned to take only long weekends off rather than full vacations, the survey also showed.

We all know that Americans are ridiculously deprived of leisure, but this article shines a ray of hope into the wondrous prism that is the Five Day Weekend.

Btw, today's image source is a great BBC story about how the pace of modern life is killing people. Cheers!

Why do vacation days wither and die? The New York Times investigates.

Not that we celebrate finding more evidence of American overwork, but we have to admit feeling a small warm kernel of pride whenever we see this problem getting national media coverage.

Sunday's edition of The New York Times tackles one of the root causes of relaxation withdrawal: U.S. workers feel tacitly discouraged from using their vacation time.

Here's a link to the story, and here's a telling excerpt:

A worker may leave vacation time on the table for many reasons, but they generally boil down to a few: business pressures, particularly on senior executives; a reluctance to appear nonessential; a desire to be paid for unused vacation days down the road; and often, the feeling that one’s workplace is anti-vacation.

This just drives home our point that the vacation system is simply broken. America needs a Five Day Weekend. With our proposal, there's no vacation guilt. Everyone gets an appropriate amount of time off, and you don't have to sweat all the headaches of paid time off.

Rack up another win for the Five Day Weekend.

Got a news bit you'd like to share? E-mail us or just post a link in the comments section. Today's image is via BBC News, from a story about the death of pensions.