Enjoy Your Vacation - Memories Are Made of This Enjoy Your Vacation - Memories Are Made of This | Page 3

Vacations are good for your health.
We’ve blogged before about the effects of stress on health. Chronic stress puts a strain on your body
and puts you at risk of ill health. Although we all need some periods of stress in our lives it’s also
important to know where to draw the line and how to take time out. A vacation offers a chance for your
body to turn off the stress systems, to recuperate and to repair. Research has shown that people on
holiday immediately feel healthier, have less physical complaints and even have a reduction in
cholesterol levels on their return
Vacations increased productivity.
We’ve covered why vacations are good for the individual but are they also good for the workplace? The
research seems to say yes. Employees who take a vacation have lower levels of job stress and burnout.
Researchers also showed that at a company level there were lower levels of absenteeism for reasons
other than ill health after employees had taken a vacation compared to before. In addition, employees
who have had a vacation see the tasks they have to complete as part of their job as less effortful
compared to before they took time off. All of this indicates the benefits of spending time away from
work. But there’s an important catch to remember if you want to see these benefits – a vacation should
not just involve time spent out of the office but time off work as well. 61% of US workers in 2014
admitted to working while on vacation and this is something which can negate many of the good effects
of a vacation. Studies have shown that people who spend a lot of time thinking negatively about work
while on vacation actually had higher levels of exhaustion and disengagement from work when they
returned. People who felt that their holiday was highly recuperative, meanwhile, experienced enhanced
effects when they went back to work. They were happier and more satisfied with their lives even in the
face of a heavy workload on their return. This shows that it’s not enough just to leave the office, you
also need to switch off when you take time off. Try not to think about all of things that annoy you in
work, don’t log into your email unless absolutely necessary and limit your use of electronic devices.
4.0 The Impact of vacations to our physical and mental health
Among the many debates swirling through the nation's circle of pundits each year is whether nation's
leaders should take time off in the summer for their yearly recess. As it turns out, though it may seem
that they're being irresponsible, perhaps they're doing the right thing. Our stress may also include the
stress of being under- or unemployed. All adults have lives that are filled with some form of stress, even
if we don't truly acknowledge this fact. Chronic stress takes its toll in part on our body's ability to resist
infection, maintain vital functions, and even ability to avoid injury. When you're stressed out and tired,
you are more likely to become ill, your arteries take a beating, and you're more likely to have an
accident. Your sleep will suffer, you won't digest your food as well, and even the genetic material in the
cells of your body may start to become altered in a bad way. Mentally, not only do you become more
irritable, depressed, and anxious, but your memory will become worse and you'll make poorer decisions.
You'll also be less fun to be with, causing you to become more isolated, lonely, and depressed. Clearly,
then, stress is not a good thing. Even people who claim to love the high-pressured lifestyle will admit, in
their quieter moments, that there are times when they just want to get away from it all, if only for a