Breaks boost happiness

“Only four more days left!” said a voice in the lift. ‘For what?’ I asked curiously. “For the weekend of course,” said the middle-aged lady standing behind me. Research shows us that holidays may increase productivity while being good for the workplace and providing a fillip to your own career. A person who never takes a break may be a bugbear at work, spreading stress like butter on toast.

So why should you take vacations? While everyone needs a couple of long vacations in the year, mini breaks on weekends or a few hours of adventure every day can make you a happier person. The easiest are daily happiness breaks — activities that will definitely make you happy — a coffee break with friends, a conversation with a great friend, a walk during lunch time, reading a good book, listening to music or watching an great movie.

The weekend breaks can be planned to be a stress buster and a change of scene. The opportunity to inhabit a new reality can improve your creativity. Longer holidays, well planned to avoid stress, can help one to review and reflect on the future. It helps one to think calmly on how to improve your life and stretch out to new goals.

An important thing to remember is not to take work on a vacation. Almost sixty one percent of workers in the US take work with them on vacations. Indian corporates can’t be too different. Rest and recovery are an important part of vacations. 

Besides uninterrupted sleep, recovery includes hydration and nutrition. It includes time for muscle repair, improving your chemical and hormonal balance and nervous system repair. Make sure your holiday does not need another holiday to recover from it.

The writer is the author of  Everyday Happiness Mantras