Is Overworking Ruining Life? Vacations Keep You And Your Coworkers Alive Longer
Everyone likes a nice vacation, right? But when there's too much going on at work and you're scrambling to keep up, vacations can start to look like an unnecessary indulgence instead of a normal part of the work-life balance. Still, you have to consider how much money is worth ruining your health and possibly even the health of your coworkers. Before you decide not to use your time off, think of a few of the health benefits of getting away for a little bit.
Stress Is Too Much For Your Poor Heart To Take
Stress has been shown to have a poor effect on your health in general, but one of the most affected body parts when you're over-stressed is your heart. Being stressed can cause your blood pressure to increase, putting serious strain on your cardiovascular system. Like leisure activities that you take part in outside of your work schedule, vacations also have a part to play in helping you reduce your stress.
Studies have shown that workers who take too few vacations suffer from drastically increased risks for coronary disease and heart attacks. Men have a 30% risk, while women face a whopping 50% risk of heart attack or heart disease. Even if you manage to avoid a heart attack due to overworking, the heart disease due to stress may significantly shorten your lifespan.
Experts recommend vacationing one to two times per year to help manage stress, along with taking part in frequent relaxing activities outside of work in your normal daily life.
Working Nonstop Can Push You To Depression
Like your physical health, your mental health can easily be influenced by how much stress you subject yourself to without a reprieve. People who focus on work to the extent of not taking vacations often report dissatisfaction with their lives. They face a heightened risk for depression and relationship failure, which increases the stress and feeds into poor mental health.
Once your stress is too great and you become depressed, you face several serious risks to your long-term health and happiness. People with depression are at risk for weight gain, fatigue, self-injury, substance abuse, addiction, and thoughts of suicide.
Fortunately, taking vacations can reduce your chances for depression and even increase the likelihood of your personal relationships staying stable. One study even suggests once you get into the swing of things, just looking forward to a vacation can improve your mental health and reduce stress. Combine this with the reduced stress after you get back from being off and you can get months of improved mental health out of just a couple of yearly vacations.
Good Vibes Could Help Your Coworkers Too
Thanks to collective restoration, the health benefits of taking a vacation aren't just limited to you. Collective restoration is a rather intuitive theory about the happiness and health of a group of people, which states that if one of them is relaxed and positive, the others will feel more relaxed and positive too. In practice, this means that by taking a vacation, you could improve your interactions with your coworkers and help to decrease their stress levels and boost productivity.
Taking frequent vacations also sets a good example for your colleagues who may feel that time off and productivity don't go together. Once you come back to work and show you can be even more productive after relaxing, you'll give them a reason to think twice about ignoring their paid time off.
Work is important, but no job is worth ruining your health. If it's been over a year since your last vacation, take some time off and help your mind and body recharge. If you get into the habit of regularly vacationing, you could improve your health and even help keep your coworkers healthy, too, and that means you'll be more productive as a team without sacrificing years of your life. For more information on planning a vacation, contact a business such as Sands Resorts.
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