Claims extracted
27
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
4%
1 of 27 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Health
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
We’re now approaching that pointy time of the year when turning over a fresh calendar is well within reach.
asserted
turning → approach → reach
And with every new year come questions about where you might go on holidays and how much time you should take off.
uncertain
you → come → time
The usual way of thinking for most Australians is to save up as much annual leave as we can and then use it all at once on a long holiday.
asserted
we → save → holiday
Roy Morgan data shows the average worker currently has 14 days of leave saved up, and with our geographical placement at the bottom of the globe, this usually makes sense.
asserted
this → show → sense
However, there’s a better way of getting the most out of your holidays and it involves taking more frequent but shorter breaks to get the most out of it.
asserted
it → ’ → it
Aim for shorter and more frequent breaks in 2027 and your work and personal life will really thank you.
asserted
work → aim → you
Research published last year in the Cureus Journal of Medical Science found that employees who take multiple short breaks throughout the year exhibited higher levels of energy and motivation than those who took only one long annual holiday.
asserted
who → publish → holiday
The reasons for this, they concluded, is that regular breaks reduce burnout and enhance job satisfaction.
asserted
breaks → conclude → satisfaction
The longer we work without a break, the more our stress accumulates.
asserted
stress → work → break
We like to think that holidays recharge our batteries to full and then we slowly run out of energy over time.
asserted
we → like → time
But many studies have shown that when you return to a high-stress environment after a vacation – no matter what the length – you return to the same levels of stress within a week.
asserted
you → show → week
In other words, the holiday high doesn’t hang around for very long.
asserted
high → hang → words
This doesn’t matter if you’ve been out of the office for one week or three, so taking more regular breaks means you’ll get more of the benefits of taking time off.
asserted
you → matter → time
In fact, the science says that our health and well-being levels peak around the eighth day of holidays and start dropping after that.
asserted
levels → say → that
So although that’s not a magic number, it does give a guide that just a week of time off will give you a meaningful amount of the positive benefits that we get when we step away from the workplace.
asserted
we → ’ → workplace
Taking a brief holiday about every two months is the recommended dosage in order to “mitigate stress accumulation”, says the research.
asserted
research → take → accumulation
Add your leave entitlement to Australia’s healthy amount of public holidays and you can plan out a decent number of week-long breaks that gets you close to this cadence.
asserted
you → add → cadence
All of this will only work, however, if you’re able to properly switch off.
asserted
you → work → this
You need to disconnect completely from work to get the benefits.
asserted
You → need → benefits
The more breaks you take, the more normalised this becomes for the workplace to continue without you.
asserted
workplace → take → you
Remember as well that travel is not just about the physical days you’re not working, there’s also an immense amount of pleasure gained from planning and dreaming about what you’re going to get up to when you clock off.
asserted
you → remember → what
Having more-regular holidays means more of the enjoyment before and after the trips.
asserted
Having → have → trips
So as you start thinking about what your calendar looks like next year, and blocking out dates for annual leave, don’t just default to the same few weeks in the middle of the year that every other Australian does.
asserted
calendar → start → year
Aim for shorter and more frequent breaks in 2027 and your work and personal life will really thank you.
asserted
work → aim → you
Tim Duggan’s new book, Clear in Tension: How to get better at conflict, is out now from www.clearintension.com.au.
asserted
book → get → www.clearintension.com.au
Get workplace news, advice and perspectives to help make your job work for you.
asserted
job → get → you
Sign up for our weekly Thank God it’s Monday newsletter.
asserted
it → sign → newsletter
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