[VIDEO] 6 Really Good Reasons You Should Stop What You’re Doing and Plan a Vacation
Ah, vacation. It’s a beautiful thing, whether your definition of it is traveling to some exotic locale or staying put and exploring spots in your hometown. It doesn’t matter if you prefer stay-cating, going abroad, or taking a road trip complete with a tent and camping gear.
Breaking from work and taking a breather can be done in a variety of ways. It’s no surprise then that what people state as their reasons for going on vacation vary, but with a similar common theme. Time away from work—and everything that goes with it, from emails to to-do lists to drafting proposals and attending meetings—is essential to your well-being.
Although it may seem like I’m stating the obvious—after all, who doesn’t love a little R&R?—the fact that many people don’t take vacations from work, instead leaving precious unused time on the table tells me one thing: It’s necessary for a healthy reminder about why you should absolutely take time to recharge.
1. It Encourages Creativity
“I’m at my most creative when I’m exploring, so vacation gives me a chance to think big, outrageous thoughts and play around with my most experimental ideas. When I come back, not only do I feel refreshed, but I’ve often made some sort of breakthrough in the rest of my work or life.” – Kathryn Minshew, Founder & CEO
2. It Helps Prevent Burnout
“I take vacation for many reasons. I worry about burning out—not just in terms of declining in productivity, but in terms of enjoying my job and the people around me. If I catch myself sniping at someone because I’m in a bad mood, or feeling exhausted on a regular basis, or not looking forward to going to work (even though I do enjoy my work), I know it’s time to unplug.” – Alyse Kalish, Editor
3. It Makes it Easier to Gain Perspective
“I enjoy vacation to recalibrate. It’s easy to get plugged into the daily routine and forget about all the life that exists outside of it. By traveling, exploring, and adventuring I refresh my understanding that there’s a lot of ‘right ways’ to live and feel charged knowing that there’s not one way to do it. Oh, I also like to have a good tan, too.” – Dan Ratner, Account Executive
4. It Encourages Quality Time With Loved Ones
“I take vacation for a few different reasons. 1) To spend more time with family and other loved ones, 2) to de-stress (hard for me to do actually) and stop thinking about work, and 3) for short vacations (e.g., one day here or there) where I’m attending to family or personal responsibilities. For longer vacations—I want the experience (via travel) to go to places I have not been and that I believe will ideally both enrich my life and strengthen my family bonds and friendship bonds (depending on whom I go with). Sometimes, I’m just worn out and want to sleep in for a day or feel like I can go the gym anytime I want and not have to get there before 6 AM.” – Adi Dehejia, CFO
5. It Gives You Something to Look Forward To
“Life’s short, so I think it’s necessary to put aside time to have fun and see the world! Plus, I enjoy having something to look forward to.” – Jimmy Okuszka, Content Associate
6. It Makes it Possible to Connect With Yourself
“There’s nothing quite like traveling alone in a new country. You’re responsible for having fun. You’re responsible for meeting new people. You’re responsible for making it memorable. It shocks the system into creating new friends, connecting with other people, and expanding your horizons. Most importantly, I feel like it really helps create inner peace of mind/confidence in yourself.” – Dan Kelske, Enterprise Account Manager
The variety of these responses should tell you one thing: You don’t need a formulated reason to break from work and enjoy your life outside the office. Now, what are you waiting for? Look at your calendar and see when you’re going to take off and go on that vacation that you deserve.
This article was originally seen on The Muse and was written by Stacey Lastoe.
Jon Flatt is the CEO of KERV Interactive, which produces award-winning interactive video technology that is revolutionizing visual storytelling for brands and advertisers. Before KERV, he was CEO and founder of Red McCombs Media, which was acquired by LIN Media.
What Business Stars Say About Jon Flatt:
“I have witnessed firsthand Jon`s unique ability to lead and build a company from the ground up. He has a proven track record to create technology, operations and company vision based on identifying early adopter trends in the market place”, VP , Circuit of the Americas
“Jon Flatt is a true entrepreneur and pioneer in the fast growing world of online advertising. His philosophies on innovation and business operations in the new economy have proven to be very successful.”, Billionaire and former owner of , The Minnesota Vikings
“Jon has an uncanny ability to quickly understand very complex issues and come up with effective scaleable solutions. His abilities as a problem solver are among the best I have ever experienced”, CEO , Verdant Frontiers
“Jon Flatt is a visionary who has the unique ability to identify early adopter trends in online advertising and more importantly, develop and execute strategies to capitalize upon those trends.”, Partner , McCombs Enterprises
“Jon Flatt builds and leads profitable, highly successful, and rapid growth companies. He is able to focus on mentoring excellent leadership teams, attracting top talent, and gaining employee loyalty during an intense high growth revenue stage. Having worked as CFO for Jon's previous company, Lin Digital, I was able to see first hand his razor sharp focus on building a highly profitable business with an end goal to produce company, employee and shareholder returns.”, CFO , Nfluient
“With almost two decades of experience in digital advertising sales, business operations, and as a publisher, Jon brings a level of combined expertise not seen often in the digital space. Leveraging owned and paid assets for revenue and sales is tough. Building a business from that success is even more difficult. Few people exist that can help you accomplish those types of goals. Jon is one of them. ”, Director, Business Development , Varick Media Management
“Jon Flatt is a true visionary in the digital space. He's a born entrepreneur, leader, and always has his finger on the pulse of "whats next".”, Regional Account Executive , LIN Digital
“If you are looking to improve your company culture, attract the best talent and position your company for maximum growth, you need to be talking to Jon. Early on in the digital World, Jon realized that tech is an important component in the Red McCombs Media value proposition and while service is key, a tech platform would position the company far beyond competitors. He conceptualized and created RedZone, a platform that streamlines internal workflow that competitors are still trying to replicate in 2016 and gives full, real-time data access to agency clients and brands beyond the limitations of a DSP or an ad server. This is just one of many things that made Red McCombs Media attractive to bidders and led to the purchase of Red McCombs Media by LIN Media. With the powerful combination of tech and service touted by LIN Media, they were purchased by Media General, who was then purchased by NexStar. All of these companies achieved great success as a result of Jon’s early work…work which has withstood the test of time.”, regional account lead , Centro