Could All Work and No Play Hurt Your Health?
Tips to Unplug
So what to do, particularly if you don’t feel you can work fewer hours per week? The answer may be as simple as those days off you might not be using.
“I recommend taking all of your vacation time,” Raison says.
Even short vacations can have benefits, according to a 2011 study. Researchers found that workers reported a boost in health and well-being during short vacations, saying they felt “relaxed and psychologically detached,” spent more time on conversations with their partners, and got more pleasure from activities.
Unfortunately, those benefits can be short-lived once we return to work, studies have found. So making time for vacations throughout the year is important, along with seizing opportunities for breaks, Finnish researchers concluded in 2012.
Whether regular getaways can help improve our overall health remains to be seen, but many studies have linked reductions in stress with better health.
And just hopping in a car or on a plane won’t do the trick, Raison says. Don’t forget to take time to give your mind a rest while you're on vacation, too.
“It’s so important, for at least a number of those days, to get off of cell phones if you can. No texting, no emails,” he says.
Not doing this can be “actually worse sometimes [than being at work], because you see a problem and you can’t do anything about it. “
Almost 40% of people say they don’t take the vacation time they have, according to a 2014 report by the U.S. Travel Association, because they feel the company would be in trouble without them, or because they would come back to a mountain of work. The association’s report included feedback from focus groups and a survey of about 1,300 U.S. workers.
One-third of managers suggested that a worker taking all his or her vacation days sends a signal that the worker is not committed.
Take Breathers During the Day
While physically getting away can be good, you can still take relaxation breaks -- say, at home after work -- regardless of your job environment, Raison says.