Relax, Recharge, Reflect, Reevaluate: 4 Reasons You Really Do Need A Vacation

“Ahh, Sweet, Sweet Summertime.”

For many, summertime means family barbeques or trips to the beach (or as we say in South Jersey, “goin’ down the shore!”)  For others, summertime is all about cool mountain valleys and canoe fishing on a peaceful, pristine lake.  Whichever you prefer, summer is a great time to step away from your desk for a few days to relax and recharge your batteries.  Let’s not forget that summer can also bring on the additional stress of managing employees’ schedules or playing email tag with colleagues’ “out-of-the-office” messages.

Contrary to what you or your boss may believe, studies have found that taking time away from the office is quite beneficial for business. In fact, according to the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, taking vacation results in significantly higher performance upon the employee’s return to the job.

And so, now that we’ve officially kicked off the summer season, I thought I’d share some good vacation pointers that I’ve found to work wonders in managing my stress levels: