During this time of year when many of us are taking our annual leave, I thought it was worth considering the holiday effect and how to make the most of them. Clearly, we look forward to our holidays, and we think back on the memories of these as great times. Indeed, research by Jensen Nawijn, and reported in “The Psychologist”, suggests that we are happier when we are on holiday. He asked hundreds of holiday makers in the Netherlands to rate their mood, and found that 96% of them were positive. Imagine if he had asked the same people to rate their mood on an average day at work what he might have found!
So, the holiday effect is that we are happier on holiday, and we also generally remember our holidays as happy times. Our memories are not designed to remember every detail, and so we forget the little hassles that happened on holiday when recalling them later. Indeed, when people rate how good a holiday has been, it is likely to be most heavily influenced by the best thing that happened, and the last thing that happened. This would suggest that one way to create exceptional holiday memories would be to make sure you have at least one extra special peak experience, and to end the holiday on a high!
Finally, one major reason for taking holidays is the energised and rejuvenated feeling we have when we return to work. Here, the news is not so good – while researchers have found evidence for increased creativity and energy on return to work, this holiday effect often lasts as little as 2-3 weeks. This can be lengthened by relaxing on evenings and weekends after the holiday. Holidays as short as 4-6 days are as likely to create this feeling as those lasting longer – so maybe short and often would be a good holiday strategy!
There are a couple of things that we can take from research on the holiday effect. First, if you want to make the most of your holiday when you return to work, plan some highly creative projects for your return, and prioritise these over the day to day catch up that you might also have to do. Make sure you build in some relaxation time too so that you maximise your period of increased energy and creativity.
Another take home message is more general – knowing that people remember the best experience and the last experience they have, you can use this holiday effect to create great memories from events that you are organising. Make sure your event has a really memorable peak experience and that you end on a high. In your set down pack, make sure you refer to these experiences so that you reinforce the positive memories.
Call to Action:
- Plan how you are going to maximise the benefits from your holiday on your return to work by organising suitable projects for your return
- Think about how peak and end events can be used in other areas of your life to create great memories that will last a lifetime
.
The Holiday Effect:
by Trish Riddell was first published as a Kaizen Tip on Thursday, 1st September 2011
