System administration is a stressful job. Therefore, managing stress well is part of doing your job well.
Often, the causes of stress that are most pressing are the feeling of being overloaded and of being pulled in multiple directions by multiple bosses with different priorities.
Feeling overloaded can be greatly helped by time management techniques, especially The Cycle System.
Stress caused by conflicting priorities needs to be fixed at the root of the problem by maintaining communication with the sources of the conflict or by bringing the involved parties into the same room at the same time for dialog.
Relaxation is something that can be managed and practiced. You can manage it by setting aside time to purposefully relax with techniques like yoga, meditation, and massage.
You need to work hard at relaxing so that you get good at it. Just as it takes time to change the oil in your car, you must set aside time to intentionally relax.
Vacation time is not a gift from your employer. It is part of your relaxation regiment and stress-reduction program. It is what you do to maintain your mental health. Postponing vacation time is like postponing brushing your teeth. It may seem convenient to skip it now, but in the long term it is not healthy. If you squander your vacation time by using it for a day off to run errands, it does not serve its stress-reduction purpose.
I hate to be gruesome, but good SAs assume that a truck may hit them tomorrow and the company should be able to continue in their absence. Taking a long vacation is one way to test the coverage plan and system documentation without suffering bodily harm. You want to discover the gaps in coverage when you are away for a week or two on vacation so that you can fix them when you return.
Take a break. Breathe. Nobody's last words were ever "I wish I had spent more time at the office." Relaxit's only 1s and 0s.
