Time away, time to play, keeps work in perspective

The critical element of life balance and time away from professional duties provides an ever-green yet timely focus of new research from UGA psychology. Employees and employers can enhance both work and life by adhering to a regular cadence of vacation rest and relaxation – and honestly unplugging from work obligations:

The meta-analysis of 32 studies from nine countries suggests that not only are vacations more beneficial for boosting employee well-being than previously thought, but the positive effects of annual leave also last much longer than the ride home from the airport.

“The theme of the paper is that vacations create longer-lasting benefits than previously thought,” said Ryan Grant, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in psychology in UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. “Job demands and job stress are on the rise. But people think that they can’t take time off because they don’t want to look bad or lose out on an opportunity for promotion.

“We think working more is better, but we actually perform better by taking care of ourselves. We need to break up these intense periods of work with intense periods of rest and recuperation.”

How you vacation makes a difference in how restorative your time off is, though.

The researchers found that employees who psychologically disengaged from work on their vacations saw the most improvement in their well-being.

“If you’re not at work but you’re thinking about work on vacation, you might as well be at the office,” Grant said. “Vacations are one of the few opportunities we get to fully just disconnect from work.”

Ideally, that means not answering emails, taking work calls or even thinking about the office.

Read the entire media story and the review study. Great reminders about what makes workers creative and innovative, which need regular, periodic rejuvenation. While it may seem counter-intuitive to suggest that time away from work re-energizes enthusiasm for careers and colleagues – might it also just be an indicator for a much-needed vacation.

Image: via Getty Images.