Must take PTO before more will accrue; what to do with down time? (work from home, company)

[Tac-Sea]

So apparently I won't accrue anymore PTO past 200 hours and 20 hours I would have accrued in the last 2 months didn't accrue and is gone for good. So I need to take PTO to accrue more.

I was saving the PTO so I could use it as a severance when this job ends, but now I must take the PTO otherwise I'm just giving up the benefit. Might as well take the PTO so I can accrue more.

Thing is I work from home and have flexible hours so the PTO has not been used much. I'm not sure what to do with the PTO.

My GF has used all her PTO and we went on 3 trips together last year. So I'd be by myself this go around, as such, I won't be going on any trips out of state.

Maybe just go fishing, hiking, or? I was thinking of just taking one or two days at a time. So I'd go from 200 hours to 184 hours taking two days. Then take 3 pay periods (6 weeks) to accrue another two days of PTO and take more time off, etc.

Hey at least it's summer and the perfect time to use it, but on what?

[Serious Conversation]

I would just take long weekends then let it get back closer to 200 if you truly want it to be nearly maxed out for severance.

[AnotherTouchOfWhimsy]

Go on a trip alone? Last year, I took my daughter up to New England and in the fall to visit family and because I could. If I didn't want to travel alone, I'd probably take four-day weekends for a few weeks. Or take a week off and get all of the house projects done.

[joe from dayton]

I have to burn time every two weeks so I can continue to accrue. Sometimes I'll read, watch movies, work on hobbies, sleep in, run errands, etc. I am not going to give away my benefit. You can also go on a trip by yourself.

[timberline742]

Take a vacation!

[BostonMike7]

I'll take a day here and there to work on the house...usually a Friday. Trying to build the kids a swingset, so I have a 3day weekend scheduled in the near future for that.

[HokieFan]

Originally Posted by Tac-Sea

Hey at least it's summer and the perfect time to use it, but on what?

Projects around the house.
Take a trip with a friend.
Take a trip by yourself.
Visit friends or family > That could be the trip by yourself.
Have a "lazy" day - binge watch something on Netflix.
If there's a charity or organization you care about, sign-up for some volunteer opportunities.
You mentioned hobbies like fishing and hiking, so take a day here and there to do what you like.

[jade408]

Be a tourist in your own town/city or whatever! Have a staycation. Last time I did a staycation I did museums, city walking tours, went to the restaurants I had been meaning to try, got a massage, went on a bike ride to the nearby trails. All sorts of stuff like that.

It doesn't have to be a big to do.

[hunterseat]

Check out classes at a community center or something similar. Pottery, glass blowing, fencing? Intensive kick boxing for a week to get you on track with fitness? Horse back riding?

[luzianne]

I'd stay home, drink coffee on the porch every morning and pretend I was retired, do projects around the house that I don't normally have time for, plant a garden, cook better dinners than I have time for when I'm working, do genealogy research, hang out with my granddaughter, have lunch or early dinner with friends. Sometimes I drive around and look at houses I wish I could afford.


I use my vacation up soon after I accrue it. I worked for the same company till the early 90s and when I left I had 5 weeks of vacation a year. When I started back with them I had to start at the bottom again.