As the summer is slowly winding down, it can be time to start thinking about planning a vacation before the school year begins. It can be challenging to imagine planning, prepping, packing and even paying for a vacation and often these factors can inhibit people from even taking one. In the article titled, "How to Take Time-Off - Guilt-Free" by Jon Spayde discusses how to reclaim vacation time. The United States does not get as much or use as much vacation time as compared to other countries. For example, it is mandated by law in Spain and Germany that employees must receive at least 30 days off a year. In the U.S., most employees only get 16 days of vacation and it has been found that a quarter of all businesses do not even offer vacation benefits. Even Americans that do get vacation time don't seem to use it all. A nonprofit called Time Off found that more than half of employees do not use all their vacation time in 2015, which ended up being 658 million days of vacation that were left unused. Studies have shown that vacations are critical for maintaining health and productivity. John de Graaf, the presidents of an organization called Take Back Your Time gives some ways to overcome barriers associated with missed work and how to truly enjoy vacation.
Some barriers to enjoying vacation include thoughts of work piling up, potential resentment from coworkers, a work culuture that may not encourage vacation time, workaholism, expenses associated with vacation and navigating scheduling issues. Ways to overcome these barriers include treating vacation as a self-care health investment. De Graaf explains that research has been shown that those who regularly take vacation have a decreased risk of developing heart disease. Another study showed women that don't take regular vacations are twice as likely to develop depression. To overcome the barrier of planning stress, it is important to plan ahead and it will increase the likelihood that the vacation will be taken. It can be beneficial to notify coworkers far in advance about your vacation so they can cover for you when you're away. If expenses are a stress, an expensive vacation will not decrease stress, rather increase it. Try to expand your horizons of the idea of vacation to include camping or even a staycation. If it is challenging to coordinate a vacation with others, consider taking a vacation by yourself. You can decide what you'd like to do this way. To find out more ways to keep yourself healthy, please visit our website at www.oxborochiro.com.
