Yet another “one of a million” article about why people should take a vacation. Most time, no matter how many references to the rest of the world the author includes, these articles change nothing. What I like in this particular article is how the author, Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, emphasizes the importance of short breaks rather than long European vacations.
The full text below.
There are few things better for us than regular rest. Whether it’s breaks during the day, hobbies that take our mind off work, weekly sabbaths or annual vacations, routines that layer periods of work and rest help us be more productive, have more sustainable careers, and enjoy richer and more meaningful lives.
Too often, rest gets a bad rap in our always-on, work-obsessed world. It’s also the case that learning to rest well is actually hard. Why is that? And how can we rest better?
Americans have long been known for our industry and ambition, but until recently, we also recognized the value of rest. The Puritans had a famously strict work ethic, but they also took their Sundays very seriously. In 1842, Henry David Thoreau observed, “The really efficient laborer will be found not to crowd his day with work, but will saunter to his task surrounded by a wide halo of ease and leisure;” a decade later he wrote, “A broad margin of leisure is as beautiful in a man’s life as in a book.” Post-Civil War captains of industry didn’t rise and grind, according to business journalist Bertie Charles Forbes: “No man goes in more whole-heartedly for sport and other forms of recreation than” industrialist Coleman du Pont, while Teddy Roosevelt “boisterously… enters into recreation” despite a busy public life. At the same time, union organizers, mass media and entertainment, and the parks movement democratized leisure: rest became a right, enshrined as much in college sports and penny arcades as in labor law. Richard Nixon, during a campaign speech in 1956, predicted that “new forms of production will evolve” to make “back-breaking toil and mind-wearying tension” a thing of the past, and “a four-day week and family life will be… enjoyed by every American.” Together, these sources paint a vision of American life in which work and leisure are partners in a good life, and “machines and electronic devices,” as Nixon called them, created more time for everyone.
But in recent decades, the world turned against rest. Globalization, the decline of unions, and the rise of gig work are factors that have created an environment in which people and companies feel compelled to work constantly. The CEO, for example, who steadily worked his way up from the mailroom to the corner office has been replaced by the 20-something genius who makes billions by disrupting the system. Technology lets us carry our offices around in our pockets, and makes it almost impossible for us to disconnect from work. Even the blue-tinted glow of our screens and late-night traffic noise can have a measurable impact on the quality of our sleep. Add raising children and managing family schedules, and Thoreau’s “wide halo of ease and leisure” sounds great, but ultimately, impossible.
Early in your career, it’s easy to believe that passion and youthful energy are inexhaustible. But at some point, family demands, a health scare, or the passage of time forces you to find ways of working that rely on experience rather than raw energy, are more sustainable, and let us run marathons rather than sprints. Not everyone successfully makes the transition. But in studying everyone from Nobel laureates and emergency room nurses, I’ve found that people who are able to do the work they love for decades, rather than burn out in a few years, share a few things in common.
Hettie's Reflections 