Vacations
When you hear the word “vacation,” what do you think about? Laying on the warm beach, listening to the waves with a book in hand? Hiking through the mountains on a brisk morning? Taking a few days off of work to just bask in a quiet home? Hopefully whatever you think about does not include work or school.
The word vacation means “an extended period of leisure and recreation, especially one spent away from home or in traveling.” Depending on your career position, you may get a certain number of vacation days/year. If you’re in school, there are vacation days built into every school year automatically. Despite the opportunity, a lot of us don’t go on a vacation, choosing to work instead. However, a part of rest looks like occasionally taking extended time to actually rest! There are so many benefits to actually taking/going on vacation.
When considering professional athletes, rest allows them to perform at their peak levels. If they trained everyday of the year, their body would physically give out. Studies have shown that when we work for a long time with no break, our productivity actually decreases. Vacations help decrease stress, improve overall mental health and creativity, and improve productivity (Zucker, 2020).
Mental health benefits not motivating? How about research that shows that those who take at least 10 days of vacation days/year are 30% more likely to receive a raise and be satisfied with their job (Zucker, 2020)?
So let’s talk about what vacation can/should look like. Firstly, try to get a change of scenery. You don’t have to go far, just something to get out of your daily routine. Alos, plan ahead. From someone who has taken a couple trips saying “I’ll plan my activities when I get there,” it is just more stressful to not have a plan. Get at least a few things in the book before you go. With that, you must know what kind of vacation you want to have. Are you that beach person? Or does rest look like hikes to you? Finally, if possible, spend some time outdoors and unplug (Zucker, 2020). The mental health benefits of being nature and separating ourselves from our devices are extensive.
I understand that going somewhere is not always practical or doable, especially financially. There were a couple years that my family and I did a “staycation” instead of going somewhere. Each of us kids picked one activity to do during the week, and my parents still took the week of work. We were all together during the week, so it was enough of a difference in routine to still feel like a vacation. Even if you can’t go somewhere, still try to take off an extended amount of work to have a staycation.
Vacations have proven to be beneficial opportunities for rest. No matter what stage of life we are in, we have the opportunity to vacation in one way or another. Where/when can you vacation this year?
Reference: Zucker, R. (2020). Thinking of skipping vacation? Don’t! Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2020/08/thinking-of-skipping-vacation-dont.
Challenges/Points:
Vacation time should be a mandatory part of our year and our rest.
Vacations have proven to improve productivity, decrease stress, increase creativity, and even increase likelihood for raises.
Vacations should look like whatever is restful for you.
Questions:
When was the last time you took an extended period of time to vacation?
What has been your favorite vacation?
Do you make taking time off a priority in your life?
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