Are you pooped out? I mean physically exhausted. Do you get home and sit down to watch your favorite TV program and the next thing you know it’s 1:30 in the morning and there is an infomercial on selling exercise equipment with people huffing, puffing, sweating, saying how good they feel? You may need a break and take a little time off.

I think we should prioritize some scheduled time off. It doesn’t have to be a week’s vacation or a three or four-day weekend. It might be as simple as one night a week that you schedule a night for fun or relaxation. Go to movie, go to a lake, go to a park, go for a leisurely stroll. So, take some time off. Be sure to schedule it as a priority, like anything else that is important to you.

At work, make sure you have some scheduled time off, what many call a stress- relief break. According to a Quantum Workplace study, stress-relief breaks at work are important to overall well-being and might be key in improving professional performance. The study found that more than 71% of employees desire stress-relief breaks such as meditation, massages, or simply required breaks. Even more striking, more than 80% of disengaged and hostile employees prefer the opportunity to have a stress-relief break.

Be sure to schedule and take a stress-relief break to refresh, reset, and re- engage yourself.

According to a recent Alamo study, 40% of workers did not use all of their paid time off. You earned it, use it, or you will probably lose it.

If you do get a chance to take a week’s vacation, maintain as much of a normal schedule of sleeping and waking as possible. It will make it easier to re-enter the work world when you return.

At work and at home, take some scheduled time off and alleviate the stress and anxiety both on and off the job. If your organization or industry is suffering from significant stress, contact me at kit@seminarsonstress.com and I will deliver a presentation packed with stress management strategies.

If you need to find a keynote speaker, plenary speaker, breakout speaker, concurrent session speaker, seminar leader, or workshop facilitator who can deliver in-person, virtually, or via prerecorded session, Kit Welchlin, M.A., CSP, CVP, is a nationally recognized professional motivational speaker and author and can be found at www.welchlin.com or www.SeminarsOnStress.com.