The Research Is In: Take Your Vacation
By emilie boggis.
I am a fan of The Pitt, television’s latest emergency room show. Each season takes the audience through ONE 10-hour shift in the ER. The entire staff—no matter their position in the hospital system—is dealing with one major crisis after another. [It’s almost beyond belief. However, video reels of actual ER staff watching and commenting on the show proves how based-in-reality the series of crises are.] Woven throughout Season 2 is the theme of burnout as The Pitt’s characters wrestle with actually taking their time off. And the impact on their well-being—and their work—when they don’t.
At LeaderWise, we witness a similar struggle for faith leaders, another set of service-oriented professionals. When I told my Methodist grandmother about my plan to enter seminary, her response was: “Why would you want to become a minister? Someone will always die on your day off!” How right she was! Responsibilities are high. The pace is unrelenting. Scarcity is on the rise. And the crises are real.
In Reflective Pastoral Supervision, we ask clients to identify risks. What are the risks in taking time off? The list, our clients tell us, is both deep and wide. What is harder for them to identify are the risks if you do not. It’s important to both know and name the benefits of taking your vacation. To the people you serve. To colleagues and co-workers. To your boss.
It’s good for your body.
Vacation lowers levels of the stress hormones cortisol and epinephrine, which are often elevated from our jobs, giving the immune system a chance to recover and lowering risk for common and long-term sicknesses.
It’s good for your mind.
Human brains become very cluttered day in and day out. A vacation helps you unclutter your mind. Part of this comes from experiencing better sleep and from resetting sleep patterns that get disrupted from the anxiety and stress of work. Feeling rested creates the space for creativity and innovation, improving both memory and concentration.
It’s good for your soul.
Especially when you really unplug, vacation allows you to tune into your still, small voice. Your truest self. Your place of authenticity and integrity. A child of God. To remember the parts of yourself that you may have forgotten. You are more than Jaymie, the pastor. Robyn, the director. Taylor, the chaplain. On days off and weeks away, you have the opportunity to return to “the multitudes” that Walt Whitman made famous. Which, in turn, allows you to bring a more whole self back to your role.
The research is in! Human beings were not created for ever-increasing, never-ceasing productivity. It’s time to take our hard-won vacations, weekends, and time-off. My grandmother would approve!
