“During this month of August, I no longer touch my computer, I no longer answer the email, in short I cut everything ! I take the opportunity to do things that I am not used to doing or I am spending time with my children, it will do me so much good, I can feel it! ” Or sometimes we hear the opposite: “Oh no I'm not cutting everything, then I can't get back into it, I'll be too lazy at the start of the school year and less productive!” ”

We often take vacations in order to relax and recharge our batteries, but do we It really works ? Should we really cut everything off from our daily lives or, conversely, always have a thought in our professional affairs?

But what does science tell us about The effect of vacations and disconnection on our brains, Good or bad ?

Research shows us that leisure time (time to disconnect from the professional world for example) is a important predictor for our well-being including our health, our commitment at school or at work or even on our creativity (1)!

Recent research has examined this question with rigorous protocols in Observing the impact of breaks/leisure activities or meditation on our biological functioning and our state of well-being! A study by American researchers measured in particular the biological and mental consequences with, for example, markers of well-being, stress or even our immune system after spending a week on vacation or after a week of meditation retreat (2). Thus, the results showed that the subjects, who had taken a week's vacation and those who had gone on a meditation retreat, felt with more energy and less stress. But more surprisingly, this study also shows that there is a direct impact on our biology, especially with a drop in stress markers and a boost in our immune system ! Those who had participated in the meditation retreat even showed a slight advantage in terms of their antiviral activity. This research therefore shows us to what extent breaks and dThese moments of disconnection are very important to regulate our stress levels and well-being!

Another advantage of taking a vacation is the possibility of recharge your attentional resources. In an increasingly connected professional or personal environment with more and more demands, we are bombed information and notifications all the time. In recent years, scientific research is increasingly moving in the same direction and is showing us how our attention has limited capacities (3). Numerous studies tell us that brief periods of attention punctuated by selected breaks are The safest way to take full advantage of our ability to be productive and efficient. Breaks and vacations allow us to better recharge our attentional resources to be more effective in the long term (4). Moreover, the attentional overload generated by our new ways of working is directly correlated to the level of stress experienced and to our productivity at work. So knowing how to properly balance your attention is crucial!

Finally, some studies have shown that vacations can improve our cognitive abilities. more broadly, or even our creativity ! Especially if our vacation was rich in experiences! Indeed, a “enriched” environment offers new experiences strong in combined social, physical, and sensory interactions. Studies have shown that enriched environments activated gene expression of certain molecules in our frontal lobes (5)! What had as a consequence in particular to improve our executive functions such as our ability to regulate our emotions or to plan, our concentration, our resistance to solicitation, and our learning abilities!

Vacations, breaks or other moments of disconnection are therefore essential for our good cognitive functioning! But how do you extend its effects over the year?

These beneficial effects can thus be prolonged and allow us to better manage our daily lives, if and only if, we respect a certain number of principles !

One of the first recommendations is to Do not set aside breaks ! Whether they are short, lasting a weekend, a week or more they are beneficial for recharging your batteries and better manage your cognitive resources And its learning skills !

Then, a second crucial element is The nature of the breaks! The more they go Slice with our daily lives and being rich in experience (social, physical, sensory, etc.), plus they will allow you to disconnect more quickly. Thus, the knowledge acquired and the novelty of the experience will allow us to: Multiply our learning skills.

Let's try it that way with this scientific knowledge to adapt our professional and personal lives as best as possible without guilt! Let's be caring and let's put the breaks back to the centers of our learning to best adapt to the world of today and tomorrow.

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