You should observe how your job reacts to your absence
After reading so many stories here and experiencing some of my own, I have noticed a correlation between how Angry superiors and Mgrs get when you take time off. My theory is, the angrier they get, the harder a worker you are and more valuable to them. There are times we followed the rules, requested our days well ahead of time, got pre-approved for time-off (its on a calendar) but still get scolded and guilt tripped or even denied outright when that time comes.
So I am realizing that it is important that all of us take our time off, vacation, PTO, sickdays etc. Not just because you earned it and you deserve it.. you do (we actually deserve like 8 more weeks off than they give us according to other countries)
But Take time off so your job KNOWS how important you are and you can see the impact it has. I claim that the angrier your Managers get at you taking time, the more valuable you are to them. The more hard work you do for them that they cant pass off to someone else. While you are away.
If the work suffers while you are gone, or sheet hits the fan, that is not on you. That is not because you were gone. That is because incompetency from other lazy workers , Suprv and Mgrs who have been relying on you and other hard workers to carry more than their share. If a business/company cant run smoothly or sustainably without you being there (well take a compliment first) it probably means you are an excellent worker who is being taken advantage of. You should not be expected to work extra, weekends, holidays, and cancel your own Plans just to keep the place going. If we are truly 'workers' paid at our abysmally low 'worker slave-labor wages' then there should little or no disruption to the company by you taking even a week or two off.
Sorry if this sounded ranty at all. But I have had it with how we are treated when trying to take personal time for ourselves. Please don't feel guilt or bad about taking time for yourself.