Managing STRESS TAKES A HOLIDAY

Despite the benefits, vacations can represent anxiety for many people. Some are afraid for their jobs and fear that, if they leave the office for a while, others will take over and possibly show them up; their job will be seen as non-essential; their secretaries will be stolen; co-workers will talk about them as slackers; and so on. They fear a vacation because they like a structured environment, and, unless the vacation is fully pre- arranged and organized, they don’t know what to do with themselves.

Taking a vacation requires knowledge of oneself, which frightens some. It requires that you have dreams and you can allow them to happen, and you can be happy without externally imposed discipline. Some people really struggle with this and are afraid to let out the little boy or girl inside them.

Further, if you are a workaholic or work for one, vacations can be exasperating. Telltale signs show that you are phoning the office every day for messages, or taking along some work- related reading. You feel extremely guilty if you aren’t working. On the other hand, if your boss is the workaholic, he’ll think nothing of calling you up to discuss work-related topics.

Depicting a typical workaholic, a famous picture in Life magazine shows Henry Kissinger with the phone in his left hand, a pen in his right, and his lap full of reading material, while sitting in the barber’s chair having a haircut. This clearly is “Type A” behavior, and unfortunately modern business practice often encourages it. According to one researcher, these people are not only burning the candle at both ends, they’ve also divided it and have it burning at several ends. Medical researchers tell us that this person is three times more likely to suffer a heart attack than the more relaxed “Type B” managers. So you see, a vacation and the ability to relax during non-working hours can be life- saving for Type A people.

According to the American Academy of Sciences, as much as 70% to 90% of all illness can be stress-related. It is a telltale sign of our fast-paced and high-pressured modern lifestyle that the three best selling drugs are a n ulcer medicine, a hypertension drug and a tranquilizer.

We are living in very stressful times: how do we cope? Well certainly one way is to take full advantage of your full vacation entitlement. Medical associations around the world agree that relaxation is essential to health and continued psychological renewal. Taking and enjoying imaginative vacations are an indication of good health sense. It’s a time of healing and regeneration and the benefits are not only personal: I believe business also benefits from vacations. A busy manager often finds himself reacting from crisis to crisis, and at the end of the day can be in a state of total mental exhaustion. A vacation allows him the opportunity to refresh his spirit and bring a new perspective to the job. In addition, people tend to be more productive and creative, and they rediscover some of the excitement originally felt in their jobs when they return from holidays.

It requires confidence to take a vacation. People at work will learn things about you by your absence as well as your presence; be realistic — 99 times out of 100, the company is not going to fall apart because you are away for a week, but this does not mean that you are no longer an asset to your team or that your input is not valued. On the other hand, your loved ones will learn about you by your presence, and you about them.

Vacationing also requires another kind of confidence. You are no longer the manager, the vice-president, the director; this can present all sorts of problems if you’re the type of person who relies on his work to provide his identity.

Try not to qualify yourself with your business designation or describe yourself only in terms of your work. Instead, use this break to re-align your priorities and see the different facets of your life in context, bearing in mind that work is only part of the total picture. William Stanley is director of national mine services at Coopers & Lybrand.

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