Summer is Here – You Need a Vacation!

This weekend is Memorial Day, the traditional Start of Summer, to boost business productivity and morale, make sure to include some vacation time in your summer schedule.

With the kick-off of summer and the biggest season for vacation, many businesses and business owners are finding themselves stuck between staffing shortages and coverage issues with the need for a break. In general American’s are “bad” at taking time off for ourselves. Statistically U.S. business offer less vacation time per year, and of that time the majority of American’s don’t even use all of their time off.

Instead of looking at vacation as something earned or deserved we should reframe it to be the break we need to relax, recharge, and reinvigorate our work effort. Think of these three benefits to making sure you summer plans include some vacation time.

• Scientist have found that vacations have a positive effect on health. Several studies have indicated benefits for heart health and prevention of heart disease impacts.
• Vacations can improve your productivity! While many of us look at vacation time as something we must work twice as hard to recover from our absence, the break may help you become more effective while at work. An internal study by Ernst & Young once found that just ten additional hours of vacation time per year increased the average year-end performance ratings of their staff by 8%.
• It can boost your creativity. One of the great things about taking time off is it allows you to find new experiences ideas and perspectives. Being on vacation does not mean you can’t still be thinking about opportunities and the new perspective offered by time off can be just what you need to get a new idea or strategy for that return to the office or workplace.

Taking time for yourself or allowing your team to have time for themselves will reap positive rewards and summer is a great time to do it.