Back from holiday, back to business

Ah, summer. To many of us, it means holidays…vacation…time to relax. Chances are, like me, you also took a summer holiday and are getting back to work about now. As I get back into the work mindset, I posed a few questions to myself about why people take holidays and what it brings them. Here are some of my thoughts and findings. 

The Latin root of the English word “vacation” (or vakantie in Dutch, vacances in French) means keeping unoccupied or making empty. Holiday is a moment of emptying your diary and head, and not being forced to do anything that is work- or duty-related. Why do we need holidays? We all work hard and often too hard, but also the fact that we are packed in trains and towns and that we are active in the evening causes lots of tension and stress. A bit of stress is okay. But too much stress makes one think less clear, you start making mistakes and become less productive. Moreover it can cause diseases as well. 

During holidays the body and brain recover: blood pressure and heart pulse get lower, according to scientific research. The production of stress hormones diminishes and feel-good hormone production takes off. Keeping the balance between working hard and relaxing is essential. Holidays and weekends are means to restore this balance. A personnel manager once told me that employees do not get ill by working too hard; they do so, while not taking enough leisure time. 

Holidays are a good way to mentally let go of work and daily stress. The more relaxed you are, the more open you are for new ideas as your mind opens for creativity. A change in environment will also help stimulate creativity. So this post-holiday period in front of us should be a very innovative and fruitful time. 

While travelling to my own holiday destination at Kos, a Greek island, I decided to find out whether another environment was opening my mind and could be a source of inspiration for new business,  product and service innovations. And guess what, I found many. I will share a few with you. The others I will keep secret as I’m thinking of selling them ☺

• While driving to the airport in Belgium the highway was full of holes, damaged by the heavy winter weather. This causes many car incidents and the repairs are causing long traffic jams. How about self repairing asphalt? And, it is in development I just found out.  http://www.selfhealingasphalt.blogspot.com/
• 25% of the pet owners do take the plane less often than wanted as they do not like to leave their beloved pet behind. How about Pet Air? Pet Air takes care of pet health issues and paper work to enter your holiday destination by plane. During the flight your pet can be close to you in the cabin and gets its favorite food.   
• Lots of sun at Kos, and thus many sun burnt bodies. People took a Tai massage, offered by a Chinese couple, while lying on their sun beds. How about a service that advises you in detail on what sun protection (sunscreen, but also anti UV-clothing) and what aftersun remedies to use? Also you can have sunscreen rubbed on immediately by the Chinese couple. Okay, let us offer a massage too. 

One more great innovative holiday discovery from my family: 

While visiting a town, city maps are useful but a pain as they are difficult to fold, get wet and fall apart easily. How about a map made of tissue? The good news is that they are on the market at a reasonable price, also for Amsterdam.  http://www.palomarweb.com/web/prodotti/crumpled-city

Now, let us go back to daily work and be creative. And there is no reason to feel guilty already thinking about another holiday: you now know why you need it. Seriously, we just booked our next vacation. 

Marjolein van Nieuwkasteele

24-8-2011