Foot spa, Kirishima-Kinkowan National Park, Kyushu Japan

I’m writing this blog post while on vacation, which may provoke you to ask, “What kind of vacation is THAT? You are not relaxing, you’re working!”

Or, more than likely, you didn’t even notice the irony–the lines between work time and “down time” are blurred (or gone) for many of us. Research shows that over half of Americans use technology to check in with work on nights, weekends, and vacations.*

There has been a lot in the news about our collective addiction to technology, and the concern that if we don’t turn everything off and relax/play/change focus we will have unhealthy lives indeed.  This may well be true; alternatively, it is just as likely that “work/life balance” varies from person to person and depends on individual temperaments and circumstances.

All I can talk about is my own experience, and here’s the thing:  after 11 days of vacation, I feel revived.  The mental fuzziness from trying to manage “too many details on too little sleep” is gone.  The fun of seeing new places, trying new foods, reconnecting with geographically distant loved ones, and hanging around without a schedule feels tremendously restorative.  I am thinking more sharply, concentrating and sleeping better, and, my face has relaxed into a smile.  I feel downright perky!

So about this blog post…I’m writing it because it bubbled up, unbidden, from within.  I didn’t have to stare at a blank screen and will myself to think of something useful. Instead, this blog wanted to be written, there was little effort involved, and it felt energizing to set it down.  And I strongly suspect that when I do return to work next week, I will bring this new energy and focus with me.

If you are one to make New Year’s resolutions–and especially if you are not–please resolve to take at least one vacation in 2014.  Fashion it any way and anywhere you like, but please take some time off.  Try or see something new. Sleep until you wake up naturally.  Have fun with people you love.  Reconnect with yourself.

And enjoy whatever bubbles up as a result.

—  *http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2013/09/connected-work.aspx.