Work and leisure: why and how to take a vacation in the best way?

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Summertime, vacation time: While most people are interested in finding the perfect travel destination, science can help make this time as relaxing as possible. There’s plenty of evidence from psychology and neurology for the best way to prepare for a vacation, the ideal length and build, and a smooth return to daily work.

Persistent fluctuations in motivation and performance?

It’s not just the weather that makes you want to go on vacation. The feeling deepens. “From a scientific point of view, it would be more accurate to speak of a stronger fatigue experience,” explains Johannes Wendsche of the German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. “This burnout is manifested, for example, in decreased motivation, taking more time for yourself after work, problems in social life, but also in constant fluctuations in performance.”

Such a feeling of tiredness is often not noticed until it is too late. It is the body’s last warning shot. Without rest breaks, signs of fatigue will accumulate with health consequences.

It’s getting harder and harder to do nothing

Neurobiologist and writer Bernd Hufnagl from Vienna emphasizes that the holiday should not be seen as just an interruption of working hours. Since 2004 his team has been using EKGs to assess workers’ ability to relax. To do this, subjects should sit in a room and look out the window for five minutes. “Even in 2004, before the smartphone craze, only 30 percent of respondents had a relaxation response,” says Hufnagl. But in 2018 it was only five percent: “We can’t stand doing nothing anymore.”

How long should the vacation be?

But how much vacation is actually needed to compensate for the stresses described? Science disagrees here. “The dose doesn’t seem to have that much of an effect,” explains occupational psychologist Wendsche. There are indications that several short vacations are more advantageous than one long annual vacation, given the fact that after a vacation the healing effect subsides after one to two weeks at the latest.

preparation for the holiday

And: The time just before the holiday is also important. “The higher the workload before the first day of vacation, the less rest,” Wendsche summarizes. That’s why he recommends dedicating to simpler and more complete tasks and getting enough sleep before the holidays. To reduce stressors, Wendsche recommends that you prepare well for the holiday season, for example by booking tickets in advance.

Six pillars of effective recovery

According to the so-called “Dramma” model, effective healing is based on six pillars:

• Freedom of thought (detachment) and relaxation (healing) should prevail during the holiday.
• A sense of self-determination (autonomy) is also important.
• Other factors are challenge (mastery) and meaning (meaning), for example, by trying a new sport, a sense of doing something meaningful on vacation.
• Finally, doing things with people you love helps as it increases a sense of belonging.

Neurobiologist Hufnagl also points out that the activity of the vagus nerve increases during the holidays: The more active this cranial nerve is, the more relaxed you will be. “But you have to concentrate on not being in your head.” He suggests paying attention to details, especially on vacation: “How does the sea roar? How does food smell? It is important to consciously perceive such information, because we are becoming more and more superficial due to the many things to do in everyday life.»

Mini vacations are also beneficial from a medical point of view.

Hufnagl recommends short breaks in everyday life: “Plan a small non-work-related vacation every day.” This conscious doing nothing also creates new capacities: “There are networks in the brain that only become active when we are not thinking purposefully,” explains the neurobiologist, who speaks of “fantasy networks” in this context: “Many people have trouble daydreaming – but such breaks are still medically necessary.”

(SDA)

Source : Blick