by Doris Helge, Ph.D.

Most people in corporate America don’t take even two/thirds of the vacation days they’re entitled to. Even worse, many people don’t have a clue how to take a vacation that feeds their long-term happiness.

Have you ever known anyone who returned from a vacation exhausted? A recent poll said 87 percent of nearly 1,000 people said they needed a vacation to get over their vacation!

Whether you take a day off or a month, you’ll be healthier, happier, enthusiastic, and more productive when you return to work IF you love yourself enough to rest as well as play while you’re off duty.

What do you really need during your vacation? It’s different for all of us, so take a few minutes to plan how you can love yourself enough to totally recharge.

GEAR UP TO GEAR DOWN

A little preparation will go a long way if you want to have the vacation of your life. First, glance around your work environment. What do you need to do to delegate your work better while you’re gone? Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or you work for a corporation, take just a few minutes to remind people not to use your desk as a dumping ground while you’re out. In one company I worked in during the National Happiness at Work Studies, one person placed barbed wire around her work area and posted a “Do not touch!” sign. She was a fun-loving gal reminding people that vacations really are serious business because they elevate our health and enthusiasm.

Re-do your autoresponders before your vacation. You may want to announce with a dramatic flair, “I’m unavailable. You’ll have your turn, too. Respect my vacation and I’ll do an even better job for you when I return.”

Clear some extra space on your desk before you leave so it will look inviting when you return. Then begin your vacation by literally vacating the premises.

Please don’t insult yourself by planning a “working vacation” unless you want to soothe your soul by volunteering to help people who are less fortunate or working on a planetary cause. For example, if you want to donate your time to teach English to children in India, help provide dental care to impoverished families in the third world, or care for endangered cheetahs in Africa, discover how to do this at www.voluntourism.org and enjoy the splendid benefits of helping others. You can also ask a travel agent for suggestions about how to soothe your soul on a meditation or personal growth cruise or at a spa.

ALLOW YOUR VACATION TO ENCHANT YOU

If you’re taking an extensive road trip, leave plenty of time for the magic moments we miss when we overschedule. One of my clients planned every day and night of her family’s vacation in advance, including restaurants and hotels. She thought she’d be more relaxed if she had no decisions to make on the road.

Unfortunately, her safety strategy backfired. She misfigured or miscopied the driving distance for one of the driving days. Rather than re-do her hotel and restaurant schedule, she and her family drove 10 hours straight with two small children just to make sure they could check into the next hotel exhausted. Everyone was so frazzled and unhappy they’re still complaining about their so-called vacation.

That’s an extreme example of how to ruin a play day, but it’s a good reminder to all of us to leave plenty of space to discover fantastic opportunities we don’t know how to plan. You know, the times when a back road lures you to throw away your map and discover one of the most special places on Earth. It will be a place that never makes it into the travel guide (thank goodness).

My spontaneous partner and I once traveled in a van for six weeks without plans or a map. I’ll tell you the rest of the secret. We didn’t even know when we’d return to home base. Our lives have never been the same.

Discover your own special spaces. I guarantee you’ll run across at least one place where you feel like you’ve traveled through a time warp into the past. You’ll meet people who don’t know how to hurry. They take walks in the winter snow and picnic by a cool stream in the heat of the summer. They still whittle wood totems and tell tall tales. You’ll have chats with colorful characters you never would have met. I won’t spoil your fun by telling you where you’ll find these very special people. The joy is in the journey. Aren’t fun and discovery good reasons to take a vacation?

Visit http://MoreJoyOnTheJob.com and get your free “More Joy on the Job Special Report” and the free “Joy On the Job Ezine.” Doris Helge, Ph.D., is an executive coach & a corporate trainer for companies as large as Microsoft. Download sample chapters from Dr. Helge’s book, “Joy on the Job” & “Transforming Pain Into Power” at http://MoreJoyOnTheJob.com & hear podcasts from the “More Joy on the Job Radio Show.”

© 2008. Permission to reprint this article is granted if the article is in tact, with proper credit given. All reprints must state, “Reprinted with permission by Doris Helge, Ph.D. Originally published in “Joy on the Job” & http://MoreJoyOnTheJob.com © 2008.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!