Feel like life’s too busy for travel? We share why it is important to travel and why it helps with productivity once you return to work.
When was the last time you took time off from work? If you’re like many people, it’s probably months or years since you had your last excursion with friends or family. More than half of employees have unused paid vacation days based on a report. The fear of looking less dedicated to work and having a too heavy workload are the top barriers to travel.
It’s difficult for many to unplug from their work responsibilities and don’t feel guilty about being away. However, taking a vacation is essential to your survival, and skipping it can be unhealthy. You need time to get away to recover from stress and prevent burnout. Don’t wait to push yourself too much before taking some time off.
If you think you don’t deserve to go on a break because of the work piled up on your desk, read below and learn how taking a vacation boosts your productivity at work.
Reasons to travel
Refreshes Your Mind
Daily routines are essential because they provide structure and organization, which, in turn, promote better health and wellness. But doing the same things in the same place every day can also lead to monotony. It makes you feel bored and disinterested in doing some stuff, decreasing productivity over time.
You might need to shake things up once in a while, and that’s where taking time off comes into play. Traveling helps you get out of your work’s sameness and comfort zone. You can find amazing places to visit, allowing you to meet new people and cultures. Such experiences can give you a new perspective that will motivate you at work and in life in general.
Provides Work-Stress Recovery
Any work comes with stressful elements, no matter how much you love what you’re doing. The constant pressure to meet deadlines can be overwhelming, causing stress, fatigue, and body aches. Without recovery from this strain and tension, your physical and emotional health can be at stake.
You have to disengage from your work and any work thoughts to allow your body to repair itself from stress. And taking a vacation is like a reset button that helps restore your body to pre-stressor levels. By providing you with work-stress recovery, you can better build your resilience and become more productive and engaged when you return to work.
Improves The Capacity To Learn
Being preoccupied with work much of the time isn’t particularly healthy. It also doesn’t translate that you get more work done. Just like your body, the brain also needs rest. It requires substantial downtime to replenish its attention, motivation, and learning capacity. When your mind is completely relaxed, sudden insights and comprehension come.
Taking a vacation gives your brain the time it needs to consolidate knowledge and brainpower. You need a break from work responsibilities to stay sharp and productive in what you’re doing. Once you’re well-rested, you have a fresh mentality and the power to learn and perform better on your job.
Enhances Creative Thinking
Familiarity with your work can stifle your desire to explore new areas and interests. It loses your creativity, which is crucial in solving problems with an open and innovative mind. You need creative thinking to discover new ways to help you accomplish tasks and get more meaningful results in your job.
And going on a vacation enhances creative thinking by exposing you to new and different experiences. It brings you fresh insights that make you more inventive. Then, when you return to work, you can find better ways to address more significant problems.
Makes You Feel More Present
It’s hard to focus on your tasks when you feel stressed out and exhausted. You can be doing a lot of work but not accomplishing anything. If you feel this way for a long time, it’s a clear indicator that you need to break from your regular routine.
By taking time off from work, you can decrease your familiarity with your work. You can feel more present and stimulated by visiting new places. Once you return to work, you’d be able to recognize and eliminate the things that don’t help you accomplish your work.
Make The Most of Your Time Away From Work
Taking time away from work is something you don’t realize is necessary until you do it. If work is too much to take right now, maybe a change of scenery is all you need. You’d be surprised by the benefits you can get from taking a vacation. But don’t get too caught up in too much planning. Just take a break, go somewhere exciting, and explore new adventures.
Things to do before you travel
Helpful Resources
Travel essentials:
- We LOVE this camera for our travel photography.
- For a cheap, easy and compact camera, we use this to vlog and take photographs.
- We use this travel drone (but make sure to check drone laws in your chosen destination first).
- This is our favourite travel Insurance because it covers so many activities and travel situations that could arise on longer trips but also offers year coverage.
What to pack
- No matter where we travel to, I always take these trusty hand sanitizer’s and a mini first aid kit.
- We love these toiletry bags (especially great for smaller bathrooms) and choose a laptop bag like this as our hand luggage.
- We keep our devices charged on long travel days with these lightweight battery packs and bring these worldwide travel adaptors on all our trips.
- I still struggle not to overpack so stick to using an expandable suitcase like these, over backpack and always take my trusty luggage scales to avoid being charged at the airport.
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