Take vacations to keep you mentally and physically healthy
Stress for Success
July 10, 2007

Unrelenting stress – even good stress -- leads to illness, disease, depression, burnout, and strained relationships. Why then do so many resist taking more time away from it? Some fear retribution at work if they take too much or even any vacation. Others think they’re invincible and don’t need time off. Eventually, however, it’ll catch up with you.

Vacations are mentally and physically healthy:
§ Psychosomatic Medicine: a study from State University College, Oswego, New York, showed men who take more frequent vacations have a 30% and women a 50% lower risk of dying of heart disease compared to those who don’t.
§ The Wisconsin Medical Journal: Marshfield Clinic research found that women who take frequent vacations are less likely to become depressed and report higher marital satisfaction
§ Participating in more leisure activities gives you greater satisfaction with life

Vacations also protect you from burnout, which is very difficult to recover from without a major life change. My husband and I were both severely burned out in the late 1990s due to professional and family stress. Our solution? We vacationed an entire year in a huge motor home traveling throughout the U.S., western Canada and Alaska. Upon our return we were ready and raring to go again. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone could create such an opportunity for themselves?

There are shorter and less expensive vacations that can improve your health. Last week I mentioned taking several long weekends vs. using up all of your annual days in one main vacation.

Another is to vacation at home. Disconnect from all work and possibly even personal communications and tour your own community. It’s much cheaper and we live in a tourist destination where there’s lots to do and see.

The minimum we should all do daily, or at least several times a week, is to take mental vacations. To facilitate this, enlarge and frame a photo of your most relaxing destination and keep it close by. As pressure builds, take a couple of minutes, close your eyes and take a mini-vacation in that beautiful spot. You’d be surprised how relaxing it can be. It won’t take the place of real vacations but it relieves stress like a boiling tea kettle releases steam.

You can reduce stress by fighting to protect the incredibly shrinking American vacation (putting energy into a goal reduces stress) by joining those who believe in a minimum paid-leave policy for all. The “Work to Live” and the “Take Back Your Time Campaign” have joined forces to pass a national three-week minimum paid-leave law. They argue that 127 other countries have laws protecting vacations. We don’t. They’re working to make this an issue in ’08 presidential campaign. If you’d like to join in, go to www.timeday.org.

Letting go of daily stressors through vacations allows your mind and body to recoup and build up greater resiliency to future stress. They recharge and rejuvenate you while improving your job performance when you return. It’s your responsibility to figure out how to best do that for your lifestyle and budget.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of InterAction Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com with your questions or for information about her workshops on this and other topics and to invite her to speak to your organization.