Stressed out about taking a vacation? Just do it for your health

Summer has all but arrived, thus ’tis the season for taking a much-deserved vacation after months of working those fingers to their nubs.

A recent CareerBuilder survey indicates that while it may be time for some off-duty stress relief, the majority of workers across America are having a very tough time disconnecting from their place of employment.

See if those of you in the Columbus-area workforce can relate to this: Six out of 10 workers say they are “burned out” in the job they have now, with nearly a third of all staffers reporting “high or extremely high” stress levels on the job.

The kicker here: A third, or 33 percent, of all workers haven’t taken a vacation thus far in 2017 and do not plan to do so. It was stressful just typing those words. No vacation at all? Seriously?

Then there are those of us out there who do decide to take off a long weekend, if not an entire week, for a little rest and relaxation — but continue to check work emails (31 percent) and touch base with their workplace (18 percent).

Part of that might be that 36 percent of survey respondents said when they return to their workplace, so much new work has piled up and they have to toil even harder to catch up with everything. Thus, 18 percent said vacations stress them out about work in general, while nearly one in five employees did not use all of their allotted vacation days last year.

Other findings from the survey indicate that women are more likely to say they are stressed at work than men; stress symptoms can lead to “anger issues” in the workplace, including depression, fatigue, weight gain, nausea, hair loss and sleepless nights; and that “people in power positions,” such as senior management and vice presidents, are the least stressed of all.

In essence, it found, the lower you go on the company totem pole, the more stressful it is for workers, which shouldn’t be all that big of a surprise.

But this is where bosses such as managers, supervisors, executives and others near or at the top can set the proper example, CareerBuilder said.

“If you're a boss, it's important that you role model how to take a vacation,” Rosemary Haefner, CareerBuilder’s chief human resources officer, said in a statement. “If you're prone to answering every email and phone call that comes through on your own vacation time, consider the example you're setting for your team members. You need to set up an automated response email, and only respond to absolutely urgent emails while you're away. Direct all calls to an assistant or colleague at the office. Show your employees that vacation time matters to you and to your company and its culture.”

Of course, much of Haefner’s advice likely depends on how large your company is and the personalities in your office or facility. The smaller the staff, the harder it can be to ask someone to handle work or other duties for you while you are away having fun.

Still, people, it’s only one life and there’s only one you, so take care of yourself and take a decent vacation this summer or fall, whichever season floats your boat. It might prove to be a lifesaver by lowering your blood pressure, which always is a good thing. No survey is needed to determine that.

This story was originally published May 30, 2017 at 1:21 PM with the headline "Stressed out about taking a vacation? Just do it for your health."