You Need a Vacation

It’s been a year. You’ve been a good citizen and unselfish. You stay home. You haven’t had a haircut in a year. You’re doing all the right things. But still – you need a break.

Traveling Does Not Equal Vacation

In years of business travel, I met lots of fellow business travelers who missed their families while on the road but loved the ability to work on the plane or catch up on a book or TV show while in the air. Now that business travel has declined, people are eager to get back on the road, not because they like being away from their homes and families, but because forced disconnection on an airplane is the only boundary they’ve ever had.

For most people, “vacation” means traveling somewhere and escaping your routine. However, vacation ultimately means leisure time. And you need it. Too many Americans skip vacation or don’t take the allotted time offered to them by their employers. If you’re one of these people, it might because you’re scared to take time away. Or maybe you think that since you can’t travel, you don’t need a vacation.

What is Leisure?

Recreation. Downtime. Free time. Unstructured time. Leisure is the basis for human culture. Great things happen during this downtime. Walt Disney discovered he wanted to be a cartoonist during recovery from an injury. Isaac Newton articulated his thoughts on gravity while reading a book under an apple tree. Your brain is free to relax and make new connections leading to innovation, creativity, and excitement. You might get an idea for an invention, solve a problem, think of just the right gift for someone, or some other thing you’ve been mulling in your mind.

During your leisure time, you explore your hobbies, spend time with others, and generally do things that make you happy. You don’t have to meal plan or do laundry – those are tasks and not leisure. You get to ignore your responsibilities and chill. Paint, watch your favorite things on TV, read a book, nap, take a bath. Do something to help you center yourself.

The most important thing about leisure time – especially during a pandemic – is to have a dedicated time where you separate yourself from non-leisurely activities. No stressful work calls or emails. Ignore laundry and cleaning for a couple of days—order delivery and veg out wholly. You can do absolutely nothing, or you can do the things you regularly ignore due to work or family responsibilities. Build your own canoe.

For many people today, home and work are the same places. Without boundaries, your worlds blend in unexpected ways. Do you work from home or home from work? You don’t need to travel somewhere to have a reason to switch off your phone. Schedule some un-scheduled and unstructured leisure time. You’ll be better off for it.