By admin 
WELL-BEING – Vacation, a word that evokes a lot of emotions… When you only have two weeks of vacation per year, you have to know how to take full advantage of it. To do this, we must abandon ourselves to the present moment without anticipating the return to work. Easier said than done, you might say… This is why Saskia Thuot gives us a few tips to learn how to let go.
How to unwind during the holidays?
It’s not always easy to be able to fully relax during leave. Especially, when the office is at home (with teleworking). But, this summer, Saskia Thuot wanted to help us really enjoy our vacations (we deserve them so much)! To get there, learn to put yourself in vacation mode.
Vacation planning
Between planning meetings at the office and organizing everyday life at home, there can be many benefits to planning your vacation in advance.
When you’re overwhelmed at work, planning a vacation during the holidays offers great benefits for mental health, promoting, among other things, stress reduction and a better state of mind. By planning a vacation early you can better cope with the demands of everyday life. In addition, stress reduction is also good for physical health helping cardiovascular health and lowering blood pressure.
Doctor Stéphanie Léonard gives us tips to put in place in order to enjoy our vacation as much as possible, even before starting it.
Evaluate your needs and means.
Determine your main need: Rest? Entertainment? A change of scenery? Family reunion?
She also explains that vacations are not always relaxing for many people, but why? In fact, vacations often allow us to keep our heads above water, but when we return to work, we quickly lose the benefits. The ideal is to allow yourself moments to recharge your batteries in small doses, such as evenings or special weekends, to better enjoy the benefits of the holidays afterwards.
Apart from our planned vacations, why not treat yourself to a weekend getaway? Here are three tips for summer:
To have a relaxing vacation, you need to be well organized in advance. As soon as your leave is granted, make a list of tasks to complete. Check where you are as you go so you don’t find yourself stuck in the water stressing over an urgent matter.
Also remember to inform your customers and colleagues of your absence, so that they can organize themselves. For example, by indicating the date of your vacation in your email signature.
Of course, take the time to brief your colleagues, providing them with a road map. You indicate where you are on each of your projects.
Last tip: don’t forget to create an automatic absence message. Specify your vacation dates and who to contact in case of emergency.
After all that, your mind is light and you are ready to go on vacation!
Vacations are good for creativity
Leave is a good way to increase our creativity and productivity… This is what emerges from an excellent article by Emma Seppälä, the Finnish director of the Center for Research and Education on Compassion and Altruism from Stanford University (United States), published in Greater Good Magazine.
Based on various scientific studies, Ms. Seppälä indicates that vacations are beneficial for three main reasons:
Vacations are relaxing: it gives us energy, reduces our stress level and even affects our immune system. Vacations are beneficial for our physical and mental health.