We
need vacations. They
recharge us, allowing us
to be more efficient. The
trouble is, too many of
the vacations we take
these days aren't
vacations at all.
We
Americans are collectively
suffering from
"vacation deficit
disorder," insists
Joe Robinson. And we don't
even admit we have a
problem. Workers often
compete to see who has
less of a life than the
next guy.
Americans
work more than anyone
else. In fact, we work 100
hours more per year than
the famously
nose-to-grindstone
Japanese. And we put in up
to three months a year
more than Europeans.
America
is the only country that
does not mandate paid
vacation leave. China gets
three weeks. Europe
averages six.
Call
it the incredible
shrinking vacation. The
average vacation in
America now numbers a
pathetic three to four
days—a long weekend. And
this year, according to a
recent survey, one in
seven Americans is taking
no vacation at all.
The
problem is, the little
time we now allot
ourselves for vacations
can't do what vacations
are supposed to do.
"You need more time
to fix burnout,"
explains Joe Robinson,
author of Work To Live:
The Guide to Getting a
Life. You have to be
cut off from a stressor
for a sufficient amount of
time to give your mind and
body a break. And you have
to allow two weeks for
your body to rebound.
But
trying to get more than
one week at a time is
difficult, especially in
today's climate. People
have to beg their
employers for any time in
the first place. The
upshot is they wind up
feeling guilty for taking
time off. And vacations
feel illegitimate.
Robinson
points out that Americans
are going through a cycle
of overwork that began
with the recession of the
early '80s then shifted
into high gear in the late
'80s with a series of
technological
advances—fax machines,
desktop computers, cell
phones. We have lots of
tools that bestow on us a
false sense of urgency.
Add
to that the fact that
labor has been cut to the
bone. Everyone left is
doing multiple jobs and
working extra hours. We're
living in "a world of
no boundaries"
between work and life,
says Robinson.
Working
more than 48 hours a week
doubles the load of
stress. It puts one on
course for heart disease.
Robinson
is quick to insist that
the belief that Europeans
are lazy is nothing but a
convenient myth. "The
fact is, they get more
done in less time. Four
European countries are
more efficient and
productive than the
U.S.—Belgium, France,
the Netherlands and
Norway. Companies in those
countries employ
management techniques that
make longer vacations
work."
By
contrast, in the U.S.,
"managers have an
irrational fear that they
need people in all those
chairs all the time or
everything will fall
apart," says
Robinson. And overtime is
often unproductive because
it is conducted by
fatigued brains. Many
studies show that most
Americans are chronically
running on too little
sleep.
"If
you work seven 50-hour
weeks in a row you don't
get more done than in
seven 40-hour weeks,"
says Robinson.
"Overtime is not
productive and fatigue
seeps into regular work
hours."
Oh,
then there's the fact that
whatever vacation time
they take, people bring
their work—and their
work mentality—with
them. It isn't just the
laptop. It's a
productivity mentality
that has people measuring
how many sights they see
and how many things they
do in three days.
"You
have to unpack before you
pack," is the way
Robinson sees it.
"Put together an
unpacking list of the
stuff that has no business
going with you," he
advises. These include
work worries, the boss,
colleagues, career
progress, laptops, pagers,
cell phones. Stash it
until you get back.
To
the pile of stuff you
leave home add your guilt
over taking a vacation.
You also have to put aside
the productivity yardstick
and remember how to
"do" leisure.
Here
are a couple of
suggestions:
- Target
your passions and
build your vacation
around the things you
like to do.
- Wander.
Yes, relearn how to
explore and discover,
with no other purpose.
- Linger
with a friend over
dinner.
- Put
on your kid hat.
Connect with play.
Happy
vacation!
article
curtosey www.psychologytoday.com
