[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"BlogPosting","name":"5 Reasons to Take a Vacation","headline":"5 Reasons to Take a Vacation","description":"why vacations are important plus vacation tips to help you enjoy them in 5 Reasons to Take a Vacation. Then start planning your next vacation.","citation":["https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/opub\/ted\/2018\/private-industry-workers-received-average-of-15-paid-vacation-days-after-5-years-of-service-in-2017.htm","https:\/\/www.ustravel.org\/press\/study-record-768-million-us-vacation-days-went-unused-18-opportunity-cost-billions","https:\/\/www.insperity.com\/blog\/mandatory-vacation\/","https:\/\/www.health.harvard.edu\/healthbeat\/giving-thanks-can-make-you-happier","https:\/\/hbr.org\/2015\/06\/are-the-people-who-take-vacations-the-ones-who-get-promoted","https:\/\/www.ustravel.org\/toolkit\/time-and-vacation-usage","https:\/\/www.kidcentraltn.com\/support\/full-family-support\/vacations-have-a-positive-impact-on-the-entire-family--.html","https:\/\/www.hrdive.com\/news\/survey-employees-intend-to-take-more-vacation-check-in-less-in-2021\/602713\/","https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/nomanazish\/2018\/01\/22\/five-reasons-why-travel-is-good-for-your-mental-health\/?sh=487c33465934","https:\/\/www.escardio.org\/The-ESC\/Press-Office\/Press-releases\/Take-a-vacation-it-could-prolong-your-life"],"articleBody":"Vacations often get a bad rap, but it turns out they\u2019re great for business.\n\nIn America, vacations have been historically seen as lazy, unnecessary, and indulgent. Over the last year, however, people are discovering the value of a good life-work balance. After the COVID lockdown disrupted work schedules, employees are adapting to having more flexibility in their jobs and finding value in other parts of their life, such as family and relationships.\n\nWhile European workers take about six weeks off per year, Americans barely use the average 10 days of paid time off annually. Fortunately, the cultural stigma attached to American vacations may be starting to wear off. According to a survey by Korn Ferry, 79% of employees intend to use more vacation days this year than in the past, and 82% said that they will check in with work less frequently during time off.\n\nHere are some reasons why people don\u2019t take a vacation:\n\nThey feel guilty about not getting work done\nTheir job doesn\u2019t offer paid vacation and they don\u2019t want to lose money or are denied time off\nThey don\u2019t want their boss to think they are lazy\nThey\u2019re confused about workplace vacation policy\nWhy Vacations are Important\nWhich side one is on in the long-running HR debate between why vacations are important vs. keeping key workers on the job as much as possible is often dependent on the workplace culture itself. Some reasons why you should be taking a vacation include:\n\n1. Good for Your Health\nTaking regular vacations can actually help you live longer. During a 40 year study focusing on men with risk factors for cardiovascular disease, TE Strandberg discovered that participants who took three weeks of yearly vacation or less had a 37% higher risk of death than those that took more than three weeks a year.\n\nStrandberg credited the lower risk of death with lower stress levels due to taking time off: \u201cIn our study, men with shorter vacations worked more and slept less than those who took longer vacations. This stressful lifestyle may have overruled any benefit of the [positive health actions taken].\u201d\n\nThat means that taking vacations may be as beneficial to your health as physical activity, a healthy diet, and quitting smoking \u2014 all of which were part of the healthy actions taken in the study.\n\n2. Good For Your Personal Life\nWhether traveling with friends, family, or a significant other, vacations are a great way to strengthen personal relationships.\n\nVacationing with kids brings families together and builds memories. Many people can think back on their own childhood and remember trips taken with their parents and\/or siblings that had an impact on their lives. Even if things don\u2019t always go as planned, vacations create bonding moments between family members.\n\nWhether or not you have children, vacationing with a romantic partner can be especially strengthening. Getting away with a long-term partner can give the two of you time away from daily routines and focus on spending time together. New relationships benefit from more time getting to know one another and a chance to become more comfortable together.\n\n3. Good For Your Professional Life\nContrary to popular belief, taking vacations can help you get ahead at work. While some people think that vacations make you look like a slacker (see \u201creasons why people don\u2019t take a vacation\u201d above), it is shown to help you be better at your job.\n\nPeople who use all of their vacation benefits have a 6.5% higher chance of getting a promotion or a raise than those who don\u2019t. This may happen because vacations allow relaxation, and relaxation helps the brain think more clearly and creatively. When the brain can think positively, productivity, sales, and revenue all increase significantly.\n\nAs Shawn Achor said in his Harvard Business Review article, \u201cthe greatest competitive advantage in the modern economy is a positive and engaged brain.\u201d\n\n4. You May Be Wasting Benefits\n\nAccording to the U.S. Travel Association, 786 million U.S. vacation days went unused in 2018. If your job includes paid time off, not taking a vacation is like giving yourself a pay cut. In fact, of those unused days, 236 million were forfeited completely and resulted in $65.5 billion in lost benefits.\n\nMost employers won\u2019t pay out unused vacation time and when every dollar counts, there is no excuse for ignoring paid time off available to you.\n\n5. Your Boss Wants You To\nBelieve it or not, most managers want their employees to take vacations. As discussed in reason #3, businesses realize that stressed-out workers do not make good employees. \n\nAdditionally, management likes vacations for compliance audit purposes. If a worker is stealing or doing something otherwise illegal at work, it is easier to catch if another person takes over their tasks for a period of time. A person\u2019s short-term absence can also uncover staffing issues, such as a position that may have too much responsibility or where hiring more workers may be necessary.\n\nVacation Tips to Guarantee an Enjoyable Time\nNow that you\u2019re convinced about the importance of taking a vacation, it\u2019s time to start planning your next one! Here are some vacation tips that can help guarantee you\u2019ll have an enjoyable time.\n\nTry not to think about work. You may feel that you need to check in with your co-workers or linger on a problem you can\u2019t seem to solve, but part of being on vacation is getting into a non-work state of mind. A great way to get ahead of this feeling is to prepare your co-workers before you leave to ensure that everything is under control without you around.\n\nPlan ahead. There\u2019s nothing more stressful than having to make last-minute decisions and stress is the opposite of what you should feel on vacation. Planning ahead of time where you are staying, what to eat, and how to get around will calm your nerves.\n\nTravel away from your city. The best way to get into a new headspace is to get into a new physical space. Going to a new city or another part of the state can change your emotional state just by refocusing your attention.\n\nGive yourself permission to relax and play. After so much time spent being productive, some people feel useless when they stop. It\u2019s okay to not be productive! Relaxation is just as important as working and will refresh your mind, which is productive in its own way.\n\nLet out energy. Maybe you have pent-up stress about your boss or a situation at work. Physical activity is a great way to let out negative energy. Luckily, vacations present all kinds of opportunities to be physically active. Hiking, swimming, or just walking around a new area can help you release stress.\n\nLive in the moment. Try not to think about all the things waiting for you when you return to your job. Don\u2019t think about issues you have to deal with when you get home. Instead, focus on what you are doing at the time in order to clear your head and relax. If you catch yourself thinking about work or problems, try to redirect your thoughts to what\u2019s around you at the time. Even if you\u2019re in backed up traffic trying to get somewhere, you\u2019re still on vacation! Doesn\u2019t that feel better?\n\nPractice gratitude. How great is it to be able to truly enjoy yourself? Practicing gratitude is proven to make you happier, and happiness is what vacations are all about. This is one vacation tip worth bringing back with you and practicing as often as possible in your everyday life.\n\nThe experts at Project: Time Off are convinced that taking a vacation is so important that they have organized a \u201cNational Plan for Vacation Day\u201d to take place on January 25, 2022. Its intention is to win back unused vacation days for workers while encouraging travel around the United States. \n\nBut you don\u2019t have to wait until January to start planning your vacation \u2014 In addition to the tips above, it\u2019s always best to ask your manager for time off as soon as possible. Start preparing now and before you know it, your health, relationships, and job will benefit from some time off of work.","copyrightYear":"2021.0","isFamilyFriendly":true,"isAccessibleForFree":true,"wordCount":"1366","timeRequired":"P0Y0M0DT0H5M44S","url":"https:\/\/jobbloghq.com\/career-blog\/5-reasons-to-take-a-vacation\/","dateModified":"2021-07-21","datePublished":"2021-07-21","mentions":[{"@type":"Thing","url":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q61509","name":"wiki-travel","sameAs":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Travel","@id":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q61509"},{"@type":"Thing","url":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q389735","name":"wiki-cardiovascular-disease","sameAs":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cardiovascular_disease","@id":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q389735"},{"@type":"Thing","url":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q678774","name":"wiki-employee-benefit","sameAs":["kg:\/m\/05j7x6","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Employee_benefits"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q678774"},{"@type":"Thing","url":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q730573","name":"wiki-organizational-culture","sameAs":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Organizational_culture","@id":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q730573"},{"@type":"Thing","url":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q2728730","name":"wiki-gratitude","sameAs":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gratitude","@id":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q2728730"},{"@type":"Thing","url":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q2867027","name":"wiki-personal-life","sameAs":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Personal_life","@id":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q2867027"},{"@type":"Thing","url":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q3935810","name":"wiki-relaxation","sameAs":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Relaxation_(psychology)","@id":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q3935810"},{"@type":"Thing","url":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q7124679","name":"wiki-paid-time-off","sameAs":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Paid_time_off","@id":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q7124679"},{"@type":"Thing","url":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q120379764","name":"wiki-professional-life","@id":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q120379764"}],"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/jobbloghq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/fishing.jpg","name":"5 Reasons to Take a Vacation","height":"747","width":"1136","@id":"https:\/\/jobbloghq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/fishing.jpg"},"subjectOf":{"@type":"Blog","url":"https:\/\/jobbloghq.com\/hr-blog\/","name":"The Job Blog - 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