Vacations, one that everybody loves but not all has the luxury to have.

Most people see vacation as an extra – a thing you do when you have some disposable income or time.

As a Doctor and Stress Management Expert, I don’t see it that way.

TAKING VACATIONs AS NECESSITY

You can quit putting “vacation” in the list of things you can just do when you have some extra time and money, instead, you can put it under the list of necessities, after the basic ones to survive.

Why? Simply because it’s a necessity!

Business leaders generally work long hours without having much time for hobbies, or things they see as time-wasting activities, but ain’t that a bad thing?

I’ve always been a hard-working person just like most of the leaders I’ve met and worked with, but somewhere deep down’s a need to accomplish something.

Indeed the satisfaction is great upon accomplishing things, plus it gives us the drive to go on and on.

But as we go on and on…

TAKING CARE OF OURSELVES

We forget to take care of ourselves and tend to our personal needs.

Did you know that if we don’t take breaks every now and then, our accomplishments and our drive to go on and on eventually destroy us?

We’ll get sick, we get diseases such as hypertension, cardiac issues, sleep disorders, and other more diseases we can get from being restless.

All these make the vacation a necessity – because not taking breaks, not resting, or not doing something mentally healthy for you – all lead to stress-related diseases.

HEALTHY OVERLOADED VS. DROWNING IN OVERLOAD

One big thing I have seen over and over during my time as Health Strategist is the difference between the healthy overloaded business leaders and the ones “drowning” in their overload. 

I have seen that one huge difference is that the healthy ones take time off to do fun things!

I am sure they accomplish just as much as the ones not taking time off, I would say they accomplish even more in less time. 

But how?

Because doing fun things gives energy! It is as simple as that. 

RELAXING AND DOING FUN THINGS

Relaxing and doing other things also makes your mind work more actively with more neural connections which means your thoughts will be more vivid and you will find solutions you couldn’t find if you just keep working. 

The things you do in this “fun and relax” time can be so many different things. The main thing is that YOU FIND IT GOOD.

Engaging in physical activities, singing, going to the movies or to a theater play, playing golf. The list can be endless!

Wouldn’t it be worth a try – have fun AND accomplish more?

THE NEED TO TAKE Healthy breaks

We are already two weeks into December and summer vacation feels far away. I hear a lot of people around me telling me they are so tired and they would need a vacation again. 

When I ask what they do during their workweek I understand why they are tired. 

No breaks, working overtime, and taking work home on the weekends. They must believe they are “Superman/woman”. 

If you find yourself working that much it is time to do some changes if you want to last!

If you work and work without breaks your thinking capacity will get slower and slower and also means you will be time-ineffective.

TAKING A VACATION CAN SAVE LIVES

Yes, in fact, it is actually life-saving to take breaks, a little longer breaks – vacations.

You may protest – “Okay, that’s too much. No one dies because of not taking a vacation or not taking breaks.”

Yes, true. No one, at least not directly, but a lot of people die from too much stress, and too much stress can be lessened by taking breaks.

THE TAKEAWAY

Your brain needs a rest many times a day to be able to keep up with its thinking. Every time you take a minibreak your brain will say: “Thank you, now I can rest a bit and my thoughts will get in order again and I can think new thoughts”

Isn’t that a great gift to give to your brain every day – and it is a gift for yourself too?

You will get more done and things will feel easier to do, that will bring you into a more positive and happy mood and you will be more creative – and you will get more done – and you are in that positive circle, positive spiral upwards.

Taking longer breaks – like holidays will be even nicer to your brain – will give it time to reboot from the bottom up

If you don’t have time for creating health in your life now – you will have to make time for illness later.

Want to read more like this? CLICK HERE.

If you want to start your process for less stress in your life get my free e-book and start working.

To more fun successful vacations,

Dr.-Annika