Study finds that workers and bosses both benefit from time off

Morayo Ogunbayo, Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Feb 11, 2025

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Workers everywhere savor the few days or weeks of each year they are able to spend away from their desks, whether it’s spent relaxing on a beach or just chilling on their couch. A new analysis suggests employers should savor vacation time alongside their employees.

According to a new review study published by the University of Georgia, vacations are more beneficial for boosting employee well-being than previously thought and their positive effects last long past the break’s end.

“Job demands and job stress are on the rise. But people think that they can’t take time off because they don’t want to look bad or lose out on an opportunity for promotion. We think working more is better, but we actually perform better by taking care of ourselves,” UGA doctoral student and lead author of the study Ryan Grant said in a news release. “We need to break up these intense periods of work with intense periods of rest and recuperation.”

The study found that all vacations are not created equally, however. Employees that psychologically disengaged from work during vacations saw the most improvement in well-being.

“If you’re not at work but you’re thinking about work on vacation, you might as well be at the office,” Grant said.

Vacations centered around physical activity also increased well-being and restoration, researchers found, as they bring up your heart rate and are often “positive experiences that you probably don’t get in your everyday life.”

Vacation length also plays a large part, as the research found that longer vacations lead to larger benefits for employees when they arrive back. On the flip side, the longer the vacation, the steeper decline employees may have in well-being while readjusting to the workplace.

The research suggests for traveling employees to compromise by adding a day or two at home after a trip before going back to work, so you are able to get the benefits of the trip without the whiplash.

Workers may feel these benefits of vacations once or twice a year, but there are ways to feel small bursts of them everyday.Disengage when you can

You likely can’t turn off your phone and step away from your laptop during the work day, but after a certain hour each day, you should try to completely drop work from your mind.

We have all experienced busier than normal seasons at work. However, it is bad for your general well-being if you are engaged with your work email 24/7.Get physical activity after the work day

Once-in-a-lifetime physical activities like snorkeling or mountain hiking don’t exist everywhere. However, that doesn’t mean life-changing workouts can only happen on vacation.

After the work day, try to get your heart pumping in a new way, whether it’s a walk on a route you rarely take or a class you’ve never taken at your gym.Make your weekends about decompressing

When you are able to get a day or two away from the office each week, make sure as much of that time as possible is for you.

Grab a meal from one of your favorite spots in the city or read a book in the sun.

Find ways each day to make your life feel a bit more like vacation and feel those effects all year long.