Taking a Break

 


Most individuals can say that they have heard about the benefits of taking a break.  Whether it is from corporate work, school work, or even just personal decision making, taking a step back from our daily challenges can provide incredible relief.  Yet, many of us struggle to make the decision to actually take a break.  We feel compelled to keep going and working, pushing through whatever burnout we may feel.  The phrase 'I'll sleep when I'm dead' comes to mind when I think about this topic.  It's a phrase that I myself have said many a time.

It's not very surprising that many of us have said something similar.  After all, Americans in general tend to be workaholics.  Our culture is all about squeezing every ounce of productivity out of an individual before discarding the husk of that person when they have burnt out.  According to SHRM, many employees cite three main reasons why they don't often vacation.  They are as follows.
  1. Fear
  2. Guilt
  3. Workplace Pressure
Individuals are fearful that their workload is too great and they will fall behind if they take any time off.  They also fear the cost of vacations and ask themselves why they would spend money they don't have to take a break, when they could keep working instead.  Guilt comes up when employees start to worry about their team falling behind without them.  While I think this is a more honorable reason to not want to take a break, team members should be able to pick up the slack while their colleague takes time off.  In turn, those team members should know that they can count on that colleague to pick up slack when they might take their own time off.  Another reason that an individual might not take a trip is the guilt that they can afford a vacation while their co-workers might not be able too.

I think the greatest threat to employees taking a healthy break, however, is the third category: workplace pressure.  First off, many employees feel that their company doesn't want them to take vacations.  Because of this, they worry that if they do take time off, it might seem that they aren't as dedicated to their job as those who don't take vacations.  Even if an employee can get past these two work pressures, they would often be expected to check their work email while they were on vacation.  This last factor might live in the back of an individual's mind and make a vacation not worth it because they feel that they won't actually get to relax.  These workplace pressures can be seen highlighted in my own personal research that I did when I was in graduate school.  

As we look back what I would call the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost everyone can say that they have had plans cancelled.  Whether it was summer weddings, family trips, graduation parties, a girls weekend or some other celebratory event, we've all missed out on fun social gatherings.  Because of this, many of us believe that taking a trip or vacation is also something that we must give up.

At this point in time, however, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I, myself, am fully vaccinated, as are many of my friends and colleagues.  Some individuals have been taking more local trips, using rental properties to avoid crowds.  These people, I would argue, are trying to look after their mental health.  With vaccinations becoming available to a greater percentage of the population, I would expect to see additional travel plans developing.  

Recently, I was lucky enough to be able to take a short trip with my boyfriend, who is also vaccinated.  We went to St. John in the U.S Virgin Islands for a few nights to celebrate our 3 year anniversary.  I told myself that it would be easy to not think about my job search because I wouldn't have much service on the island.  It was, however, quite an effort to truly disconnect.  I think that I really did benefit from our time away from 'the real world', as I came back feeling refreshed.

If you have the ability to take a trip, even if it is a road trip or a day trip, I would highly recommend doing so during this time.  As the weather gets warmer, it will also be easier for individuals to avoid being indoors with others.  The known benefits of taking a break have been documented in research.  These benefits include increased productivity, reduced stress, reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and better sleep.  Try those out for yourself by planning a vacation, big or small.

I'll see you on Island Time! 


-Vicky

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Waves

Image
I've recently started doing some research on the recommendations for women when they begin trying to conceive (TTC - a new abbreviation that I've become aware of).  The internet, as many of us know, can sometimes be a bit of a black hole.  You go in looking for one thing and come out with a million more questions and even more confusion than you started with.  Which is why, I didn't JUST go to the internet.  I also sent texts out to all of my friends who are already mommas and asked them to share with me what they did during this stage. What I received from friends was a sense of excitement that this journey was close to beginning for me, knowledge sharing about what worked for them, questions about the timing we were considering, and ultimately just support and an offer of being there for whatever questions come up during my research & the process in general. I maybe shouldn't have chosen the week of my period to dive into all of this.... as most women know, hor...
Read more

Keepin' it 100

Image
  I am a proud member of the millennial generation, less commonly known as Generation Y.  Born in 1991, I sit somewhere in the middle of the generation, which spans from 1981 to 1996.  When you read about the millennial generation, I find that a few things stand out. Millennials are mainly the children of Baby Boomers We came of age with the internet in the 90s-2000s; Most of us didn't have cell phones until 7th or 8th grade.  We remember dial up-internet & often cringe when looking back at how we used Facebook in high school.  Most of our computer and video games had educational elements. We also have lived through a number of once in a lifetime  global events, namely: Creation of the Internet (mid to late 90s) 9/11 Terrorist Attacks of 2001 - I was in 2nd or 3rd grade. Hurricane Katrina (2005) 'The Great Recession" (2007-2008) Student Debt Crisis Housing Market Collapse 1st Black President (Obama - 2009) Gay Marriage Legalized (2015) Trump Elected (20...
Read more

Stoplight

Image
I've recently started seeing a new therapist.  As you may have seen from my last post, I've also been thinking about visiting smash rooms to let out emotions (still haven't managed to try one out yet!).   For me, therapy has always been a space where I am able to get vulnerable and real with someone who really doesn't know me.  And even though it happens every time I return to therapy for support, I'm always surprised to hear the shock that many mental health professionals have at my steadfast and lofty standards, for myself exclusively.  These standards, of course, began for me at a very young age. In psychology, the concept of nature vs. nurture is often discussed.  This is the idea that both nature and nurture play a role in how someone turns out. Experiments have shown that even identical twins can develop significant differences when they grow up in different environments.  Most research, however, eventually posits that both nature and nurtu...
Read more