health & wellness
Work Hard for the Money
VACATIONS ARE NO LONGER A LUXURY – THEY ARE A NECESSITY
By Vanessa Kunderman
Humans were designed to be able to manage stress. And
although some stress is good for us, the new fast-paced
world often leaves us in hyper-strained states for too long.
These abhorrent chronic stress levels hinder our physical
and mental health. Our blood pressure and cholesterol rises;
we are predisposed to insulin resistance which can lead to type
two diabetes; our immune systems are suppressed and it seems we
forget how to make our bodies sleep. With too much anxiety and
depression, our mental function suffers not just at work, but even
in the mundane things we do each day.
“Humans were never designed to have stress all the time. Our
stress reactions were designed to be turned on and then off. That’s
the healthy cycle. But today we operate in a semi-permanent state
of stress,” said Dr. David Posen, author of Is Work Killing You?
“Proper vacationing is an antidote to chronic stress. It is absolutely
imperative that Canadians are vacationing each year – and not
just one time per year.”
Dr. Posen advocates that Canadians should be vacationing three
or four times per year. Ideally each quarter, employees should take
a break to recharge. The majority of working Canadians are more
stressed than ever before and regular breaks are imperative to restore
balance between work and life.
Expedia.ca has been conducting their annual Vacation
Deprivation survey for over ten years. As a Canadian online travel
provider, the organization is committed to helping Canadians
travel the world, and to do so they’re keen on understanding their
market.
Sean Shannon, managing director at Expedia.ca, oversees all
Canadian operations and gets a front row view on the Vacation
Deprivation survey’s results.
“We keep coming back and doing this survey because we find
it so interesting,” said Shannon. “We do this survey all around the
globe, and Canada and the United States could be the hardest
working nations in the world.”
Due to legislation or cultural norms, other countries are
banking much more vacation time than Canadians, with some
Canadians not even taking their allotted amount of time off each
year. According to the 2014 Vacation Deprivation survey, 48 per
cent of Canadians are feeling vacation deprived, up from 40 per
cent in 2013.
Five rules for a
rejuvenating vacation
1. Take all the vacation time you’re entitled to: all of it.
2. Take your vacation time before you need it. Then you will
never need it, you’ll just enjoy it.
3. Space your vacation time throughout the year so that you’re
getting more frequent breaks, instead of one long one.
4. Come home a day early. Give yourself one day at home to
settle back into your routine before returning to work.
5. Use the first day back at work for catch-up.
Evgeny Karandaev/Shutterstock
EpicStockMedia/Shutterstock
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ JANUARY 2015 ❚ 43