Did you take a vacation this summer? If you think skipping vacation in order to get more work done is good for your trucking business, your career, or your mental health, think again.
During HDT’s inaugural Heavy Duty Trucking Exchange event, keynote speaker Tim Richardson spoke about innovative thinking. One of his key points was the need to step back from your day-to-day work.
“How can we stay on the top of our game if we are at it all the time?” he asked.
Taking a vacation is more important now than ever, as the line between work life and personal life increasingly blurs, with people checking email, exchanging texts, even taking calls during their kids’ soccer game or at the dinner table.
Some forward-thinking companies not only pay for employees’ time off — they actually help pay for them to go on vacation and expand their horizons. That’s because numerous studies show that taking time off to recharge our bodies and our minds is vital for our physical and mental well-being. And it makes us more productive and creative.
The State of American Vacation 2017 said “the data is unmistakably clear: planning for and taking time off benefits individual well-being and professional success, business performance, and the broader economy.” So-called “work martyrs,” it has found, are actually less likely to get a raise or bonus, and are no more likely to get a promotion.
What they do have? More stress.
You might look at this study with a bit of skepticism, since it comes from the travel industry. But we’ve seen the same message from other sources.
Giving Innovative Ideas the Time and Space to Emerge
From the Harvard Business Review: “Uncluttering your mind allows you to think more clearly and boosts creativity. … taking time off provides an opportunity for big or innovative ideas to emerge. Lin-Manuel Miranda conceived of the smash hit musical Hamilton while on vacation.
“‘It’s no accident that the best idea I’ve ever had in my life — perhaps maybe the best one I’ll ever have in my life — came to me on vacation,’ Miranda told HBR. ‘The moment my brain got a moment’s rest, Hamilton walked into it.'”
To really spark creativity, experts suggest making sure your vacation involves new experiences, especially traveling abroad and experiencing other cultures.
“New sounds, smells, language, tastes, sensations, and sights spark different synapses in the brain,” notes this 2015 article in The Atlantic.
The Atlantic quotes Adam Galinsky, a professor at Columbia Business School and the author of numerous studies on the connection between creativity and international travel:
“Foreign experiences increase both cognitive flexibility and depth and integrativeness of thought, the ability to make deep connections between disparate forms.”
Fostering Creativity and Innovation Throughout the Year
Of course, there’s only so much vacation you can take. That’s why it’s also important to take other steps to foster creativity throughout the year.
As this 2014 article in Entrepreneur (paywall) notes, “few ambitious achievers understand one of the biggest secrets of productivity — the refueling principle. It comes down to this: You get more done quicker when you step back and recharge the brain and body.
“Studies show that performance increases after breaks of all durations: from extended vacations down to microbreaks of 30 seconds.”
After all, notes the author, most of us wouldn’t think twice about needing to take a break after an hour of aerobics class or running. Yet for some reason, we don’t treat our brain the same way.
Jeff Stibel, CEO of Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp., brain scientist and author of Wired for Thought and other books, tells Entrepreneur: ”When you’re thinking about a problem, it’s confined to one or two regions in the brain, but the solution may not be in those areas.
“By resting, the information sits in your brain and then percolates across other sections of the brain.”
7 More Ways to Spark Creative Thinking
Creativity and innovation also come from reaching outside of your own brain. At HDTX, Tim Richardson suggested other ways in addition to vacations to help spark creative thinking:
- Read books related to your position or profession.
-
Attend personal or professional learning events or classes -
Listen to audio programs and podcasts (did you know HDT has a podcast, HDT Talks Trucking?) -
Take a vacation from technology. Will Facebook really miss you? Is doomscrolling on your phone really productive? -
Exercise regularly. A 2016 article in Inc.com calls exercise the one habit that can make the most positive impact on your life. -
Develop a circle of people you can go to when you need help solving a problem or bouncing an idea off of. -
Meet new people. When you go to an event, don’t gravitate to the ones you know or who look like they might be kindred spirits, Richardson said. Instead, look for the person in the room who looks likely to be the least like you. You never know what creative thoughts may ensue. (This, by the way, is exactly what Heavy Duty Trucking Exchange is all about — maximizing networking.)
Credit: Source link