Vacation, a time of rest and freedom from work, can be experienced each and everyday. Duke University psychiatrist, John Rhoads, MD, studied successful, effective, and healthy executives who worked at least sixty hours weekly and compared these individuals with executives who developed burnout from working over sixty hours weekly. The following table summarizes those findings.
| THOSE WHO EXPERENCE WORK SUCCESS | THOSE WHO EXPERIENCE work burnout |
| Postpone thinking about problems | Ruminate about work problems |
| Take time off when productivity begins to diminish | Take their computer and cell phone on their vacations to keep-up with work activities |
| Use exercise, hobbies, and sports to deal with work stress | Use drugs or alcohol to deal with work stress |
| Enjoy scheduled vacations | Tend to postpone vacations |
| Cultivate a stable family life | Spend very little time with their family |
| Maintain friendships | Have a difficult time cultivating friendships |
| Exercise regularly | Watch television regularly |
| Have varied interest outside of work | Feel uncomfortable away from work |
| Can laugh at themselves | Take life and themselves too seriously |
DO YOU KNOW HOW TO HAVE FUN?
| | LITTLE OF THE TIME 1-pt/each √ | SOME OF THE TIME 2-pt/each √ | A LOT OF THE TIME 3-pt/each √ | MOST OF THE TIME 4-pt/each √ |
| I enjoy hobbies without feeling guilty about not working. | | | | |
| I am optimistic and cheerful. | | | | |
| I surround my self with happy, positive, and fun-loving people. | | | | |
| I correct my mistakes and blunders, but don’t continue to worry about them | | | | |
| I take a long weekend away from work when I begin to feel burned out and tired. | | | | |
| Leisure activity helps me feel rested. | | | | |
| Sports and games bring me more laughs than frowns because I play to have fun not necessarily to win. | | | | |
| I enjoy creative play—dancing, painting, party games, playing a musical instrument, etc. | | | | |
| I laugh at least once a day. | | | | |
| I take vacations without worrying about the job. | | | | |
| Multiply √ by the value given in each column | | | | |
Add the total for each column to get the GRAND TOTAL = ________
Scoring
10-14 points = President of Eeyore International
15-24 points = Party pooper
25-34 points = Fun to be around
34-40 points = Life of the party
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