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I saw a fascinating blog posting on MediaPost.com today about how hard Americans work and how little vacation they allow themselves. In his post, Paul Parton tells us that Americans are working more hours than midevil peasants. You'd think with all our modern technology, we'd figure out how to take more productive vacations than the virtual breaks we've come to rely on.
Why not start planning your New Year's resolution now -- vow you will renew with a getaway each quarter. Let your mantra be "Must Play". Like Nike says, "Just Do It". Here are excerpts from Paul Parton's blog posting:
The Consumer: Land of Too Plenty, by Paul Parton
" We're working too hard. And by "we" I don't mean my colleagues and me at the Brooklyn Brothers, I mean the collective we. The people of America. We're working too hard.
"There's no great revelation in it, of course. I'm sure you're all quite conscious of the fact that you seem to be working harder than you were a few years ago. But there's a natural inclination to put it down to the fact that we're advancing in years and careers, and that, as we grow older and more senior, we naturally have to put in a little more effort. The average American today works longer hours than a medieval peasant. We're more stressed out, run down and overworked than we have ever been in history. [...]
"In fact, U.S. workers gave back more than 438 million vacation days in 2006 - worth about $60.5 billion, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics and a survey by expedia.com. In 2007, Americans gave back another 460 million days of unused vacation time to their employers, worth $65.5 billion. [Ed. note: That's 1.26 million years' worth of unused vacation days, just in 2007. Feel free to call in sick tomorrow.]
"It's having a serious effect on our health. Researchers at SUNY found that regular vacations lowered risk of death by almost 20 percent. A separate study revealed that women who took two or more vacations a year cut their risk of a fatal heart attack in half. "Taking a vacation is a serious health issue that should not be ignored. It could save your life," says Dr. Alan Muney, chief medical officer of Oxford Health Plans."
| Paul Parton is the brand-planning partner at The Brooklyn Brothers, a creative collective. |
BedandBreakfast.com's solution? A B&B getaway. It's the three-day one week vacation, according to Sandy Soule, VP of Marketing for BedandBreakfast.com. Everyone needs a break-ation. Go ahead, take the vow to plan one each quarter. We challenge you to have the break-ation revelation!
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