WHY TAKE A VACATION

BY AMMAR SHAH – One of the biggest questions companies have to ask themselves is the amount of vacation time their employees get. After all, a company’s job is to maximize profits, so the more time an employee get off means less work done for the company. That being said, the one thing companies should focus on is the long-term productivity of their employees by giving them a break every once in a while. This leads us into the discussion of how important rest and vacation is for not only workers, but humans in general.

Stress is filled in all our lives: cramming for tests, the fear of being unemployed, or the   lack of financial security. All these stresses plague our lives constantly, even if we don’t        truly acknowledge this fact. Our bodies weren’t meant to be in a stressed state for long periods of time. For example, chronic stress takes a toll on our bodies ability to maintain vital functions, resist infections, or ability to avoid injury. Another side effect of being in stressed state is the increased likelihood of becoming ill. A few more aspects of your body which suffer is your sleeping habits, digestive system, and memory. These are only a few problems associated with stress, so a way to fight this situation is vacations!

Companies should invest in the mental and physical health of its employees, by giving them breaks and vacations. The benefits of vacations include a potential break from their stress cycles. During our vacations, we get to relax with our families and friends, and take a break from our usual routines. Vacations have also lead to increased productivity from workers because of the recharge of the brain coming out of the vacation. For example, there was a study done in 2009, with a sample of 900 lawyers who said that vacations have personal benefits which include “opportunity for learning and intercultural communication; promotion of peace and understanding; personal and social development, etc. This study concluded that vacations had positive benefits that were reinforced in the workfield for the lawyers. This is one job space where vacations improved the working productivity of it’s workers.

Another benefit that vacations have is that they extend family relations. There was a study concluded that family vacations positively contribute to family bonding, communication and solidarity. Vacations create a sociological shared experience called the “crescive bond” by enduring connections and fostering growing. The cresive bond is encompassed by the extreme feeling of closeness among a family. When families get closer to one another, it leads to more meaningful conversation and happiness which transfers over to their work. The more happy an individual is, the more likely they will try to give it their all.

Vacations are a necessity in order for companies and even schools to invest in the future of their workers and students. At the end of the day, we are all humans and our bodies weren’t programmed for hard work everyday. Every once in a while a break can and usually eases our minds so we can resume our jobs and classes at a full throttle pace. Vacations don’t have to be a full scale trip to the beach, but can be as little as taking an hour break from studying or taking a walk outside to clear the mind. The importance of vacations doesn’t discriminate on age or gender, but emcompasses everyone!