It is the same song and dance at every company during the summer: “The holiday season is starting again. Where are you going on vacation?” “I am going to Turkey for 19 days this year. I love going to the beach, having good food and drinks, and recovering because I really need that,” says your colleague.
You quickly start talking about something else, because you only get a week to spend in Limburg. However, the question is whether a person actually needs two to three weeks of vacation to unwind. You know that you are not fully rested after a weekend, but maybe three or four weeks is a bit too much …
If you are stuck in traffic on your way to Spain, that will not really cause much stress. However, if you have been under a great deal of stress at work in the past year, it will be much harder to let it all go while on holiday. However, research has shown that a person needs about eight days to release all their stress and to fully recharge their batteries.
However, there are still a few caveats about those eight days. It does not help if you immediately start planning things while on vacation, so you do not actually have a day off. You are just replacing the stress for other obligations, so you don’t feel rested afterward. According to researchers, it is better to plan one long vacation instead of going out every weekend.
You are probably thinking about taking a nice three- or four-week vacation so you can completely relax. Unfortunately, your relaxing feeling will increase from day one only to peak on day eight. After eight days, the feeling starts to decrease again, reaching the lowest point on day 11 …
