At last! Scientific proof for the benefits of taking vacations!
As a dedicated vacation-taker, my management style included aggressively encouraging staff to also take their vacations. From personal experience, I knew that taking time away from the office gave me fresh perspectives on business challenges. A period of distance helped me develop more objective views on both situations and people. Occasionally a thorny issue would be solved by others or disappear altogether during my absence. At times I wondered if sometimes I had inadvertently played the role of an obstacle.
Your Brain on Vacation tells us that our brains need surprises to learn. Repetitive actions lull the brain into a dream-like state. In contrast, surprises stimulate the brain into paying attention to details. Vacations take us far from our normal environment, energizing us when our brains return to the wonderment of childhood.
Nevertheless, even much shorter breaks have been proven beneficial in reducing stress. By encouraging staff to take their breaks and vacations, and by modelling this practice ourselves, we are contributing to organizational goals by helping all of us work at our peak performance levels.
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