The Importance of Summer

Below is my monthly message for the June 2021 edition of the MHRI newsletter, Focus. You can view Focus online at MedStarResearch.org/FOCUS.


Dear Friends and Colleagues,

A recent Harvard Business Review (HBR) article is titled “We All Really Need a Vacation”. This is understandable, with more than a year of pandemic stress and isolation from family and friends. As the COVID-19 numbers continue to fall, we remain cautiously optimistic about the summer as a time to ‘unplug’ and rejuvenate.

While we all are feeling the need for a vacation, we should also recognize the biological importance we obtain from time away. Research shows that taking a vacation is important to increase resilience, creativity, and overall health: yes, vacations can actually advance health! A study from UCSF documented an improvement in stress hormones and immune function immediately after vacation, whether at a fancy resort or a modest meditation retreat. Neuro-imaging research demonstrated that being idle, daydreaming, and relaxing create alpha waves in the brain that are key to creative insights and innovative breakthroughs. That could explain, in part, why a different study showed that hiking in nature, disconnected from all devices for 4 days (a very unusual experience in our day and age), led to a 50% spike in creativity.


Most surprisingly, studies have shown that time away from work actually results in greater productivity at work! The improvements in health, wellbeing, resilience, and creativity all add up to an increased ability to deal with inevitable challenges in a productive and effective manner (3 Science-based Reasons Vacations Boost Productivity).

The HBR article is a great resource on how to make the most of your vacation, including the need to prepare your workplace. At MHRI, we will work with our local leaders, identifying which routine meetings can be postponed or canceled through the summer and identify appropriate redundancy to ensure vital research continues while allowing our teams to recharge. In that spirit, we will take a short summer break of this FOCUS newsletter and return in September.

I wish everyone a rejuvenating, safe, and enjoyable summer and look forward to hearing how you advanced your health and wellness.

Neil

Read Focus online at MedStarResearch.org/FOCUS.

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