Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to treat this weekend like a vacation. If
Speaker 1: you do, you may feel happier over the weekend and
Speaker 1: more refreshed when Monday morning rolls around. Today's tip, like
Speaker 1: some other recent ones, comes from Cassie holmes book Happier Hour,
Speaker 1: How to Beat Distraction, expand your time, and focus on
Speaker 1: what matters most. Holmes recounts that she and fellow researchers
Speaker 1: Colin West and Sandford Devo used Gallup's US Daily Poll
Speaker 1: data focusing on an item about how often you take
Speaker 1: trips or vacations. Holmes explains, our analyzes show that those
Speaker 1: who prioritize time for vacation enjoy more positive emotion and
Speaker 1: less negative emotion in their daily lives, as well as
Speaker 1: greater life satisfaction overall. Now, perhaps that sounds slightly obvious
Speaker 1: and hard to do anything with. Having more vacation time
Speaker 1: and trips would be great alas many folks have limited
Speaker 1: days off and limited funds for travel. But Holmes and
Speaker 1: her research colleagues decided to then explore a related topic.
Speaker 1: They noted that many of us already have regular built
Speaker 1: in time off are weekends every seven days, the majority
Speaker 1: of people get two days off work. Now, it's not
Speaker 1: quite the same as taking a Tuesday and Wednesday off
Speaker 1: when everyone else is working, but it's not bad either.
Speaker 1: So they set out to explore whether treating the weekend
Speaker 1: like a vacation would have similar benefits. They designed an
Speaker 1: experiment and told some participants, treat this weekend like a
Speaker 1: regular weekend. That is, to the extent possible, think in
Speaker 1: ways and behave in ways you normally would on a weekend.
Speaker 1: They told other participants, treat this weekend like a vacation.
Speaker 1: That is, to the extent possible, think in ways and
Speaker 1: behave in ways as though you were on a vacation.
Speaker 1: The next Monday, the vacationers were, in Holmes's words, happier,
Speaker 1: less stressed, and more satisfied. Plus they'd been happier during
Speaker 1: the weekend too. The vacationers spent less time on housework
Speaker 1: and work and more time on some pleasurable activities, and
Speaker 1: they were more present during the activities they engaged in.
Speaker 1: Holmes concludes that mindset matters if you reframe weekend or
Speaker 1: other time off as a vacation, you will behave differently
Speaker 1: and get more out of this time. She advises, give
Speaker 1: yourself a break during the breaks you already have. In
Speaker 1: other words, you can get more vacation feelings even without
Speaker 1: additional days off if you think of your weekend time
Speaker 1: off differently. This has me thinking about ways people can
Speaker 1: get more of the vacation feeling into their weekends. One
Speaker 1: simple way to get into a vacation mindset may be
Speaker 1: to create a calendar item for Friday at five o'clock
Speaker 1: or whenever it is that you get off work, reminding
Speaker 1: yourself to enjoy your vacation. Just think of all the fun, relaxation,
Speaker 1: and connection you can enjoy in the sixty four hours
Speaker 1: of vacation. For Monday morning at nine am, if you'd
Speaker 1: like some sort of fruity drink with an umbrella in it,
Speaker 1: we'll go for it. But whether that is happening or not,
Speaker 1: try to feel like you are embarking on a few
Speaker 1: well deserved days off, because well you are. If you
Speaker 1: try treating your weekend like a vacation, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear how it goes. You can reach me at Laura
Speaker 1: at Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've
Speaker 1: got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at
Speaker 1: Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit
Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
Speaker 1: your favorite shows.