Your health may depend on it. Some years ago, the American Psychosomatic Society, which studies the connection between stress and physical well-being, announced some arresting research results. A detailed sixteen-year project tracking 12,338 men aged 35 to 57 found that, with other factors (diet, exercise, smoking) controlled, the men who took annual vacations where they actually relaxed were 21% less likely to get sick and die during the study period than those who took no real vacations. The regular-vacationers' chances of dying of heart disease in particular were 32% lower.
Other studies suggest that, for women, the difference is even more dramatic: Female managers who take two or more vacations per year cut their heart attack risk in half, compared to women who take no time off.
Moreover, there's plenty of evidence that vacations boost people's productivity (Who does their best work when they're exhausted?) That may be in part because time off provides a chance to hang out with loved ones. A new survey from Ultimat brand vodka, of all companies, says that 69% of employees are now working so much that they're losing touch with their families, and almost seven in 10 (67%) say they have missed a family or social event in the past year because they were working.
Understandable, but consider, if you will, some words of wisdom Fortune columnist Stanley Bing once wrote: "The people you love should be around long after you decide to hang it up and move to St. John"; and ensuring that they'll still be speaking to you by then "means pushing back respectfully every time people with no life try to steal yours from you."
Too busy, or too anxious, to schedule a getaway lasting a whole week or more? That's okay. Research has shown that taking several three or four-day weekends throughout the year creates the same energizing, stress-busting effects as a single long break -- and, especially these days, may be more realistic, too.
