Benefits of Taking a Vacation
June 4, 2008
Is there any real importance of taking a vacation? I know a lot of people who are married to their job and all they do is work. - Josh in Los Angeles, CA
Many people assume taking a vacation will interfere with their work and put them behind in the long run. So does using your vacation time really end up making you a lazy sap? Even when these workaholics do take time off, a large portion of them still take what’s called a working vacation where they are constantly tethered to a phone or laptop regardless of their location.
Then there are the masses of people that don’t take vacation time at all. Talk about being a drone!! With all these new fangled energy drinks that pump us full of interesting chemicals to keep humming along at all hours, we tend to forget that we’re human and that we require rest. As humans… along with needing a good nights sleep, it is of utmost importance to take time off. The stress from a daily grind of the same drone like work over and over, day by day gradually wears people down.
As a result, their performance suffers and these people begin to question what they are really working for in the first place. Think of it being similar to sleep deprivation. Everyone can relate that losing just one good night of sleep can keep you from performing your best and dampens your ability to think clearly. The importance of taking vacation gives your body and mind the chance to recharge.
However, the lack of quality sleep as well as adequate rest ends up having a detrimental effect on your body’s ability to fight off disease and overall health. How many workaholics do you know that won’t take vacation time are genuinely happy, walking around with a cheery smile on their face? None. The key here that so many of us fail to understand is that taking a vacation will actually make us more productive in the long run because we are giving ourselves the chance to catch up.
How can it be any other way? Imagine trying to get to a destination when you know you’re running on empty and rather than stopping to fill up on gas, you instead keep driving ahead. Sooner or later you’ll run out and will have no one to thank but your own stubbornness. The benefits of taking a vacation allow us all time we need to reconnect and realize what we’re working for.
Don’t ever let yourself get to the point where you are a mindless drone, pounding out day after day without taking any time for you or your family. If you see this happening then have the courage to realize that your work will still be there and that the world will not come to an end if you take a few days off.
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