Benefits of Vacation: How to Make the Most of It

The positive effect of a vacation is tangible from the first days of vacation, and increases in the following ones, but upon returning – no – we have not at all “recharged our batteries” as we tend to think, because stress management does not work like that. And if the analogy works, we must accept the fact that that same battery runs out quite quickly. This is demonstrated by a well-known meta-analysis from Radboud University (Netherlands), published in Journal of Occupational Healthwhich found that holidays slightly reduce the burnout and other work-related disorders, to erode almost completely as soon as you set foot in the office again until it disappears completely within two or four weeks. The study also highlighted that the benefits of summer holidays are not related to their duration.

Better to have several short vacations than one long one

“This result makes it clear that quality can be more important than quantity of holidays,” he commented to The Country Oliver Weigelt – psychologist and professor at the University of Groningen, also in the Netherlands -, stressing that there is a minimum number of days to notice a change, because «the benefits of the first week of relaxation are more evident». A recent study conducted on teachers has in fact revealed that the symptoms of anxiety and depression decrease during the first week, and also in the second, and then tend to stabilize. And it is in light of this evidence that Many experts today suggest dividing vacations into blocks of about ten days throughout the year. In short, better short than all at once. Professor Weigelt, for example, recently took part in a study on Christmas holidays, during which he analyzed the mood of 145 employees from five weeks before Christmas until mid-March. And since the results were not the same for everyone, his team began to investigate: «We have verified that it is a matter of adopting a series of adaptive recovery habits. In practice, Those who had benefited most from the work break tended to relax more on weekendshe allowed himself micro breaks, he cultivated socialization, he took walks in the park after lunch…».

The effects on health

A serious reason to start managing breaks from work during the year is that the vacation effect also affects health. One study (Karen A. Matthews of the University of Pittsburgh and Brooks B. Gump of Syracuse University) has even reduced number of holidays linked to increased long-term risk of cardiovascular disease and premature mortality. Another study from the University of Helsinki goes in the same direction, which began to follow the lives and habits of 2,700 businessmen (no women) – average age 47 – in 1974. Well, during the 26 years of follow-up, 778 of them died. Analyzing their lifestyle habits, the scientists concluded that “shorter vacations were associated with longer working hours, a higher body mass index, increased coffee consumption and poorer sexual health.” And finally, as a consequence of all this, a higher mortality rate.

The (Positive) Mirage of the Sabbatical Year

University of Washington professor Kira Schabram seems to have found the answer: In her 2023 study on gap years, all 50 of the people she interviewed described the experience as positive, even transformative. Unfortunately, few can afford to take a full year off work, but Schabram says it’s interesting to know what might happen to us: “After three months, the changes in a former employee’s health and mood are much more powerful than a simple vacation,” she says. “And in some cases, those are life-defining, career-reorienting changes.” Schabram has studied health and psychology at work for decades, and for those who can’t afford to disappear from their positions, she has one key piece of advice: Never let yourself get to a point of burnout, “because prevention is better than cure.”

Keep an eye on the burnout

Stressed woman sitting at desk in office surrounded by paperworkWestend61

One of the promoters of the term burnout – Christina Maslach, a professor at the University of Berkeley, explained that it is “an experience that responds to chronic stressors in the workplace. It is not necessarily dramatic, but it is annoying and constant. It is like always having stones in your shoe”. According to her, during the holidays we can have fun and relax, but when we return, in other words when we put our shoes back on, the stones are still there. “Days off do not solve the problem. They are pleasant because they are used to catch up, pay the bills, enjoy free time, tidy the house, go visit your parents … To get your life back”, she says. But when we return to the routine, the problem remains. And that is where we need to focus: interrupting the flow with more breaks during the year, as mentioned before. And following the example of those – in the study on Christmas holidays – who obtained greater benefits because they were more inclined to relax in general, on weekends and not only. Well, we have three months to prepare.