As we bid farewell to the Christmas adverts that have been adorning our TV screens and radios for the past eight weeks or so, now it’s the turn of cut-priced sales and holidays to bid for our money.
However, for once, there is one advertisement that strikes a real chord with me. I’m talking about the British Airways campaign for us to take our holidays more seriously.
Using a range of persuasive techniques, including the points of view of children and partners, and montages of people wedded to their phones and laptops, BA seeks to convince us we should be treating our vacations as earnestly as our work.
Whilst I’m not the best at switching off most of the time, I’ve always been firm in doing so during periods of annual leave. Being self-employed, I now only have myself to worry about. But when I was in the police, and subsequently when I worked in other teams, I was a stickler for ensuring, as far as I could, that my colleagues and staff set their out of office and powered down their work devices so they could devote hard won time to their families, friends, and relaxation. I was not a miracle worker, though, so from time to time, I would detect the odd person replying to an e-mail or sending a message when they were supposed to be on holiday. Rarely would I allow that to go unremarked upon.
Many people have an inflated view of their own importance and genuinely believe that the world will stop spinning were they to not bounce back their views on each and every message landing in their inbox while they should be recharging their batteries. That is particularly infuriating if they had delegated some of their more urgent functions to junior staff for whom this might be an opportunity to develop and show potential, only to then jump in on discussions, thereby undermining the very authority that they have bestowed. I recall one manager who would devote an hour per day (which inevitably stretched into many more) to attend to emails while on leave. We all know that sometimes we are copied in for information only, or so that the sender can show off about things that they have done or decided. Rarely do these require a holidaying manager to engage. The only effect is to deprive the manager’s family of their time and attention and irritate their staff, setting an unhealthy tone and expectation into the bargain.
Whilst the impact of people taking a proper an uninterrupted break can be keenly felt by their family, friends, and staff, the most important impact is on their own mental health and productivity. A study published last year in the Journal of Applied Psychology showed that whilst we all know that breaks improve wellbeing, it seems now that the benefits last far longer than originally thought. Previous research suggested that post-holiday benefits vanish quickly. This study found that wellbeing stayed elevated as much as twenty-one days after returning and that positive effects could last up to forty-three days.
Interestingly, holidays that combined time at home with time away had a greater positive impact on wellbeing than those spent fully away. However, those who travelled saw a more gradual decline in their wellbeing over time. Longer holidays provided a bigger boost to wellbeing during the break, but it waned more quickly once people returned.
Not all holidays were equally beneficial, though. The strongest wellbeing gains came from those who were able to mentally detach from work, followed by those who focused on relaxation. Learning new skills had no meaningful effect on wellbeing, either during or after the holiday. When it came to activities, physical exercise had the most positive impact, followed by social undertakings.
In summary, while a holiday’s wellbeing effects don’t last forever, they do endure. The biggest boost happens during the holiday itself, reinforcing the idea that stepping away from work has huge benefits but, happily, the decline afterwards is more gradual than we might think.
So, next time you take a break from work, switch off, chill out and divest yourself of the illusion you are central to everyone’s world. You’re not. You deserve time away and you will certainly come back happier and healthier for longer, which must be good for everyone in your orbit.
I originally wrote this for my weekly column in The Argus, published on Monday, 5 January 2026.
