No doubt many of us will join the hordes of shoppers rushing off to shopping malls this Easter weekend. Social distancing might be very challenging among the shopping crowds. And with inflation rapidly accelerating in New Zealand, holiday-weekend shopping will certainly stress our bank balance.
Closing our shops on Good Friday and Easter Sunday (as well as Anzac Day and Christmas Day) could actually be great for our wellbeing, whether you’re a Christian or not. Easter weekend is a great time to relax and re-energise, spend quality time with loved ones, and participate in your favourite recreational activities. We all need some quality downtime from the busyness of life and work.
In fact, burnout is at an all-time high in New Zealand, according to a new report on the kiwi workplace. In addition, a recent AUT study of approximately 1000 workers in New Zealand showed 35% of respondents had severe burnout. To make matters worse, most people who are suffering from burnout either don’t realise it or can’t assess how serious it is.
Research shows that Kiwis are working much longer hours, and with the proliferation of digital devices and social media we simply don’t get any real downtime. The off-button is never pressed. When was the last time you spent some extended time with loved ones, simply relaxing together?
Easter should prioritise family time, as spending quality time with your family will help strengthen relationships. Instead, we tend to keep ourselves busy during weekends and holidays, it’s become a lifestyle habit. Rushing off to join the masses at your nearest Westfield Mall doesn’t sound relaxing or re-energising, and is it really the best thing for you and your family?
We should also consider the retail workforce, as the retail industry is now required to work almost every day of the year.
So perhaps a few days each year, when we close the retail stores, would be great for the wellbeing of retail workers as well as us frazzled shoppers.
… and for those who’ll be arguing that closing retail stories might hurt business, please consider the massive rebound effect that occurs on Boxing Day following the Christmas Day closure.
NOTE – Back in 2017 we expressed a similar view on Easter being “family time”. Our article even got published in the mainstream media back then …
