Why Take Time Off? (And How?!)

There is a  benefits of taking time off from work and how to do so with minimal stress. This lesson teaches how taking time off benefits your physical and mental health, as well as your work performance. Finally, the lesson goes into specific strategies to minimize the stress of being away from work. That way, you can take time off without guilt!

Overwork is not beneficial for your health, the quality of your work, or even your prospects for promotion..

• The benefits of taking time off include:

o Your physical health improves.

▪ Research links long work hours to higher blood pressure and an increased risk for heart

attacks and strokes.

▪ Time off leads to getting better sleep, which has numerous health benefits, including

boosting your immune system, improving your body's inflammatory responses, and

preventing weight gain.

o Your mental health improves.

▪ Long work hours are linked with elevated stress levels and higher risk for anxiety and

depression.

▪ Taking time off helps you regulate emotions and relieve stress.

o Your work performance improves.

▪ Time away can mean higher-quality work and improved cognitive function, which is

especially critical for traits such as focus, creativity, and innovation.

▪ It gives you more energy and motivation, which leads to higher productivity and overall

better performance.

▪ Higher performance can lead to career advancement, as research shows that those who

fail to take time off are actually less likely to get promoted or receive a salary increase or

bonus.

• To minimize the stress of being away from your job, follow these tips:

o Communicate you'll be gone.

▪ Tell your manager, coworkers, and colleagues that you'll be out of office.

▪ Send them a brief email reminder a day or two before you leave.

o Put an out of office notification in your email signature a couple of weeks before you leave.

▪ This provides an earlier heads-up that you'll be out and that your response will be

delayed.

o Set an "out of office" message on your email and voicemail.

▪ Provide information on when you'll be back and who to contact in the interim for any

urgent matters.

Put a sticky note on your door, desk, or computer monitor.

▪ State in your out of office message that you will be not checking your messages when on

vacation.

o Plan!

▪ Plan who will handle any urgent matters while you're out, and make sure your boss is

aware and on board with the plan.

▪ Provide any coworkers who are helping with relevant notes or information, and consider

sending them task or calendar reminders, if applicable.

o Ask your manager to call you, rather than email, if anything urgent comes up while you're gone.

o Delete your email app from your phone or tablet while you're on vacation.

o Block out time on your calendar for your first day back at work.

▪ Spend that morning checking and prioritizing emails, then respond in order of priority.

o Resist the temptation to dial in or log in while on vacation.

▪ Quality time away from work is critical to recharge physically and mentally, and it

improves your work performance once you're back on the job.

Too many workers don't use all of their paid time off. How can you better plan your time off so your

return to work is stress-free?

Why You Should Make Sure Employees Take Time Off - Written by Matt Krumrie

Does your company have that employee who brags about stockpiling vacation or PTO hours, or how they are so dedicated to their job they just never take vacation?

Tell that person to go on vacation, take time off, and to stay away from responding to email. Immediately. No one wins when employees don’t take time off.

“Taking vacations is correlated with less stress, decreased absenteeism, and increased job satisfaction,” says Praveen Puri, President, Puri Consulting LLC, and an expert in coaching both teams and individuals for high-performance and innovation.

According to a survey conducted by Pertino, more than half (59%) of Americans regularly check email, take a phone call and more during vacation. And 36% work at least once a day.

That culture needs to stop, now, and your managers can lead the change.  

“Managers need to lead by example,” says Bill Driscoll, district president of Accountemps. “If employees see their boss never takes a vacation or gets away from the office, they are more likely to follow suit. You have to live by the culture you are trying to create.”

Tel Ganesan, president and CEO of Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Kyyba, Inc., a global IT, engineering and professional staff augmentation company, offers these five tips for employers who need to remind staff about the importance of taking time off and vacation:

Employees need to give their brains a break. When they do, they avoid “burn out” and can be more productive and creative.

Encouraging time off increases employee retention as they will be happier and tend to have more positive feelings towards their employer.

If you pay employees for time off they did not take, it affects your bottom line.

When an employ does not take time off to rest, it wears their body down making them more susceptible to illness and other health conditions. This in turn could cause more worker absence and insurance issues.

It encourages independence amongst employees, as well as collaboration with a variety of colleagues. When an individual does not take time off, others become more dependent on them

Driscoll provides these additional tips for creating a vacation-taking culture in the office:

Create a clear vacation policy and encourage your staff to use that time away from the office. Some companies choose to put a minimum number of days an employee must take to ensure staff is taking time off. The clearer the policy, the more likely your team members will take a vacation.

Often times, the culture of an organization is set by its leaders’ behaviors. A workaholic culture within an organization can be set by behaviors of the management team. This is another reason it’s important for managers to lead by example and use their vacation days.

When employees are absent, it actually benefits others in ways that often get overlooked, says Puri.

“It promotes team cross-functionality, and forces individuals to share knowledge with co-workers,” says Puri.

And it in the long run, it promotes, health, wellness, and happiness.

“Few people can be at their best without taking regular time to rest and recharge,” says Driscoll.