Golf & Tennis Challenge: 10 Reasons You Need a Summer Getaway

If you’ve been working overtime without taking any time for yourself or your family,  you’re doing everyone–including your boss–a disservice. You didn’t know that taking time off is actually good for your productivity? Well, in case you need more convincing, here are 10 reasons you need to getaway this summer.

[RELATED: Save Money for Vacation This Summer]

1. Relieve stress. The deadlines and meetings are taking a toll on you. The American Psychological Association found that vacations help reduce stress by removing people from activities and environments that put pressure on them and promote anxiety.
2. Be healthier. A summer vacation helps rejuvenate an overworked body. According to Karen Matthews of Mind Body Center at the University of Pittsburgh, taking time away from work and routine allows the body to replenish and repair itself. Other benefits include lower blood pressure and smaller waistlines, USA Today reported.
3. Be happier. Getting away from work and reconnecting with loved ones promotes a sense of well-being. Vacations and leisure activities can give you higher positive emotional levels and combat depression.
4. Be more productive. You’re very likely to enjoy your work better after a summer escapade. According to HealthNet.com, Ernst & Young professional services firm discovered that for each additional 10 hours of vacation employees took, their year-end performance ratings improved 8%. Also, frequent vacationers were significantly less likely to leave the firm.
5. Strengthen family bonds. A vacation provides the perfect opportunity to enjoy time with your family and make new memories with them. If you’re having trouble remembering the last time all of you were together, you’re overdue for a family vacation.
6. Catch up with friends. With a busy career and/or a family, it can be hard to keep up with your friends. Why not gather your besties for a weekend or longer? Keep it local or travel to an exclusive location. What you do doesn’t matter, as long as you’re spending time together.
7. You need more Vitamin D. Did you know that sun helps your body manufacture Vitamin D, which is essential for healthy bones and teeth? So take your daily vitamin by getting outside and soaking up some rays. Don’t forget the sunscreen!
8. Get bragging rights. Instead of being the person “liking” all your friends’ and coworkers’ vacation photos on Facebook and Instagram, you get to be the one receiving the likes and comments.
9. Catch up on sleep. Taking a vacation means not having to wake up early if you don’t want to. And you can take a nap in the middle of the day.
10. Because there’s more to life than work.