The value of rest

Like many people at this time of year, I just returned from a vacation. It had been a year since I’d taken more than a long weekend away from home. Stay-cations, while useful in their own ways, don’t seem to have the same impact as a traditional hit-the-road trip to somewhere fun. Also, for the first time in several years, I disconnected from the office, leaving everything in the capable hands of my team.

If it’s been a long time since you’ve gotten a break and you have the vacation time available: make it a priority.

Today is my second day back and I’m getting close to caught up again. And, while I never enjoy the effort to get back on top of things, a little introspection tells me that I’m experiencing the following benefits from my time away:

• My tolerance reserve for stress is topped off again. That tank was running pretty low before my vacation, leading to several undesirable consequences. I’m sure my teammates will appreciate that I’m a bit more relaxed and able to deal with the vicissitudes of the workday more easily.
• I’ve rediscovered motivation. For some time before my vacation started, work was a slog. That’s never fun. I really enjoy my work and being unmotivated about it is discouraging and disorienting.
• My family likes me again (!).

The next few months are going to be exciting and content-rich (as our Sales Manager, George, likes to put it) for the Home Improvement team. Having some time off before we really put our noses to the grindstone is a great help. There’s so much value in rest, I’ll have to remember to do it regularly.  You should consider it, too!