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We Don't Need No Stinkin' Vacation

Written by: Keith Ferrazzi

Article Overview: It's vacation time, and as usual, everybody's worried about workaholic Americans skipping our traditional summer R&R. One often referenced study suggests that failing to take a nice long vacation over a period of years can increase your likelihood of heart disease.

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Vacation

It's vacation time, and as usual, everybody's worried about workaholic Americans skipping our traditional summer R&R. One often referenced study suggests that failing to take a nice long vacation over a period of years can increase your likelihood of heart disease.

I believe in vacations. We all need to nourish our spirit with new scenery, abandoned routines, and time devoted entirely to stress-free pleasure. But you've also probably heard or read me say that balance is BS - that if you're living a life driven by genuine relationships, where you are constantly being yourself, it's a lot harder to separate personal and professional into their own tidy boxes. This idea of "balance" we read about in newspapers - usually followed by a statistic about grueling American hours and a thumbs-up to the French 35-hr work week - also seems to be driven by the idea that work is inevitably bad and unpleasant. Happy at ... work!?! Incroyable!

So hey, no need to fall prey to the idea that something is wrong with you if you're not taking the traditional two week vacation this summer. Still, if you're looking for some quietude, here's a list of five ways to de-stress without leaving your home town.

1. Try new things: yoga classes, rockclimbing, a book club, a new restaurant or dish to prepare at home. Trying new things provides the ultimate stress release: Perspective. And beyond that, studies have shown that novelty stimulates the production of the same brain chemicals involved in romantic love. Cheers to that!

2. Write letters to your loved ones. For a week, skip your morning news or email roundup, and instead write a letter to a friend or family member whom you haven't told in a while how much they mean to you.

3. Change up your routine. Are you the consummate 9-5er? Shift to a 7-3 or 11-6 schedule for a week or two. Use the longer morning or evening for fun activities you never feel you have time for.

4. I can't say this one enough: EXERCISE. If you're not already fit, just start with a long walk. If you're already fit, try a boot camp class - really push yourself for that sense of achievement and endorphin rush. Instant stress relief.

5. Take lunch breaks every day for a week. Do it with co-workers - but declare those lunches a work-free zone. Give your office mates permission to float up above work worries for an hour. Talk instead about your gratitude for all that's wonderful in your life. And who knows, maybe you'll find work even makes the list!

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Article Tags: 5er, brain chemicals, family member, free pleasure, fun activities, genuine relationships, heart disease, hr work, letter to a friend, likelihood, long vacation, morning news, prey, quietude, roundup, statistic, stress release, vacation time, write letters, yoga classes



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