Ahhhh, Summer Vacations.

We've all heard how vacations are good for us. We need to get away and come back to work refreshed and renewed. But sometimes it's hard to let go of things long enough to really unplug.

Why is a branding company talking about vacations? Well, your brand is affected by everything you do--it speaks of your organization's culture, how you treat/value employees, how you communicate with your audience. If fresh thinking, new ideas, invention or creativity isn't important to your business, you can probably skip this article. But the truth is, in this year of the unpredictable economy, creativity, invention, fresh thinking, and new ideas are more important than ever.

Here's a reminder of what vacations do for us:

1. Vacations reduce burnout. Running around like an idiot all the time wears us out. We react rather than respond thoughtfully, resulting in duplicated effort and wasted time.

2. When we take time off, we return with a more open perspective on how we work. We can see our own inefficiencies and energy depleters and work better to avoid them.

3. Spending time enjoying life, rather than worrying about it makes us more hopeful and creative. We see how things can be, and that gives us the energy to make improvements and changes.

4. Vacations teach us to relax. The more stressful your job, the more you need to be able to relax within it and think clearly. Effective thinking occurs best in a relaxed state.

5. Laughing and engaging in leisure activities in a relaxed way helps us breathe deeper and run more oxygen through our systems. With more oxygen in our bodies our aches and pains can improve and we can experience better quality sleep and energy levels.

6. Vacations enables us to live life more freely. The change in routine helps us break old habits, adopt new interests, experience new things.

So, if you didn't take your summer vacation, start planning one for the fall, winter or spring. Even President Obama is attempting a vacation with his family now. Choose somewhere you can collect your thoughts, expand your viewpoint and relax. We'll give you a hint — it doesn't begin with a "w" and end in an "ork."       :-)

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