In December, Americans were holding on to hundreds of millions of days of unused paid time off, referred to as PTO.

By the end of the month, many of those days vanished, just as they do every year when use-it-or-lose-it balances reset.

This year can be different.

“The bottom line is, take a vacation if you can,” wrote Allina Health psychologist Dr. Kathryn Isham. “When you take time away from the stresses of work and daily life, it can improve our physical and mental health, motivation, relationships, job performance and perspective.”

Nearly half of all U.S. workers who have PTO do not take all of it in a year, according to a recent Pew survey. Most said they either don’t feel they need to take more time or they worry about falling behind at work.

Meanwhile, employee burnout rates continue to rise, and two-thirds of workers Aflac surveyed last year said more time off is the preferred antidote.

For those with a PTO balance to spend down this year, January is the time to plan. Here are some pointers to make the most of your time and use it all before you let it go to waste:

Maximize holidays

The typical “life hack” offered on social media and travel blogs is to plan vacations around federal holidays because they are days you might already be off work. You can make long weekends even longer, often without sacrificing additional PTO. An online calendar, holidays-optimizer.org, can help maximize time off around holidays.

“Even if you can’t take advantage of each public holiday to maximize your time off, you’d still be surprised by how much you can benefit from a few well-timed vacation requests,” according to personal finance blog the Points Guy.

Also around holidays, your co-workers might want time off, too, meaning you might have competition and should put your request in early. Those times are also when travel costs could be highest, if you were planning to take a trip.

Embrace the staycation

A vacation doesn’t have to cost anything, if that has been a deciding factor in planning time away from work. A “staycation” can be as simple as spending time at home catching up on reading, gardening or other hobbies. Or it can involve booking a spa day, a nice dinner and maybe even a night at a hotel while a babysitter watches the kids.

Prioritize mental health

Sometimes a random day off is all it takes to cool down the burnout, and some workplaces have even added “mental health days” that employees can take specifically to unwind.

Other paid leave

Talk to your boss, HR department or union rep about paid leave you might have beyond vacation and sick days. This can include those mental health/wellness days, parental leave, bereavement, paid time to volunteer and other specific benefits. Many employers also offer a PTO donation policy, which can help colleagues cover unexpected emergencies and help you use days that will otherwise expire.

“If your company offers open leave or allows employees to roll over unused vacation days, emphasizing the benefits of regular annual vacations can help promote the practice,” says the Society of Human Resources Management.

Tribune News Service