How many times have you gone skidding into vacation, arriving exhausted from trying to “earn” it before you leave? Then feeling guilty for any loose ends you were unable to tie up in time, maybe even brooding the first few days because you’re so burned out that you aren’t even enjoying your precious time off nearly as much as you thought you would?
Research shows that we can experience diminishing returns when we have too much free time, which might explain the onset of vacation blues. In this episode, I’m sharing my rollercoaster that arises at the beginning of longer stretches of free time and a few strategies for settling in to find true peace and relaxation.
🌟3 Key Takeaways
Give yourself transition time on both ends of time off: switching from a pre-vacation work sprint to instant R&R is highly unlikely!
Sometimes you just need a day to float and not ask anything of yourself, including the pressure to relax (oh, the irony!).
Tune in: What’s sitting just below the surface? What are you noticing once the busyness and daily routine recedes?
📝Permission
To relax! Leave things undone. You do not have to “earn” your time off by working yourself into the ground preparing. You also hereby have permission to take a longer break than you think you need, allowing space for a slow unwinding when you arrive.
✅Do (or Delegate) This Next
For your next vacation or big block of free time, buy yourself extra time and mental margin by starting your email autoresponder a week early, and ending it a week after you return.
📘Books Mentioned
Grumpy Monkey, Bragging Rights by Lisa Bragg
Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn
Happier Hour by Cassie Holmes
Goal-Free Living by Stephen Shapiro
Invisible Solutions: 25 Lenses that Reframe and Help Solve Difficult Business Problems by Stephen Shapiro
Outrageous Openness by Tosha Silver
🔗Resources Mentioned
Free Time’s Author Toolkit
UCLA research via Cassie Holmes: Too Much Free Time? Blame Solitude or Lack of Productive Activity
Article: The 7 types of rest that every person needs by Saundra Dalton-Smith MD
🎧Related Episodes
126: Creating Time Buffer—7 Strategies for Spacious Scheduling
JP on the Good Life Project: How I Took a Month Off to Write & Make Art (then what REALLY happened)
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