Skip to content

This site uses cookies to store information on your computer. Some are essential to make our site work; others help us improve the user experience. By using the site, you consent to the placement of these cookies. Read our privacy policy to learn more.

Close
AICPA-CIMA
  • AICPA & CIMA:
  • Home
  • CPE & Learning
  • My Account
Journal of Accountancy
  • TECH & AI
    • All articles
    • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
    • Microsoft Excel
    • Information Security & Privacy

    Latest Stories

    • Incorporating prompt engineering into the accounting curriculum
    • Create a dynamic to-do list with Excel’s checkboxes
    • Another way to manage authentication texts
  • TAX
    • All articles
    • Corporations
    • Employee benefits
    • Individuals
    • IRS procedure

    Latest Stories

    • Treasury posts preliminary list of jobs eligible for no tax on tips
    • Taxpayer’s circumstances do not warrant equitable tolling
    • When does debt become worthless?
  • PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
    • All articles
    • Diversity, equity & inclusion
    • Human capital
    • Firm operations
    • Practice growth & client service

    Latest Stories

    • Treasury posts preliminary list of jobs eligible for no tax on tips
    • California issues draft guidance for climate risk disclosure
    • Business outlook brightens somewhat despite trade, inflation concerns
  • FINANCIAL REPORTING
    • All articles
    • FASB reporting
    • IFRS
    • Private company reporting
    • SEC compliance and reporting

    Latest Stories

    • SEC accepting Professional Accounting Fellow applications
    • SEC names new chief accountant
    • SEC ends legal defense of its climate rules
  • AUDIT
    • All articles
    • Attestation
    • Audit
    • Compilation and review
    • Peer review
    • Quality Management

    Latest Stories

    • AICPA unveils new QM resources to help firms meet Dec. 15 deadline
    • 8 steps to build your firm’s quality management system on time
    • Auditing Standards Board proposes a new fraud standard
  • MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING
    • All articles
    • Business planning
    • Human resources
    • Risk management
    • Strategy

    Latest Stories

    • Business outlook brightens somewhat despite trade, inflation concerns
    • AICPA & CIMA Business Resilience Toolkit — levers for action
    • Economic pessimism grows, but CFOs have strategic responses
  • Home
  • News
  • Magazine
  • Podcast
  • Topics
Advertisement
  1. newsletter
  2. Career Insider
CAREER INSIDER

The power of a planned vacation

The benefits of time away from work go beyond simply ‘recharging the batteries.’

by Sandra Wiley
October 15, 2015

Please note: This item is from our archives and was published in 2015. It is provided for historical reference. The content may be out of date and links may no longer function.

Related

September 18, 2015

Career training a key tool to lure accounting talent

September 14, 2015

How to answer the most challenging job interview questions

TOPICS

  • Professional Development

Research has shown that workers are more productive and less stressed when they take regular vacations. And a sometimes-forgotten part of taking a vacation, if you spend it with a friend, significant other, or family: You’re having a shared experience that helps to grow that relationship.

Yet plenty of finance professionals don’t take their allotted vacation. Some even take pride in not taking a break.

I often hear people say they are supposed to be scheduling vacation days or they wish they could take some days off, but they’re too busy. Sometimes, I’ll hear managers boast about not taking time off. “I always lose my vacation time at the end of the year,” they’ll say, “because I never take it all.”

Not everyone wants to, or has the means to, take a trip. But that doesn’t mean employees shouldn’t take time away from work. Here are a few thoughts on the benefits of vacations for employees and employers:

  • Succession and career planning. Succession is a big deal these days. Especially if you are in the last third of your life, you might be interested to know that taking more vacations could make you live longer. Research by professors from the University of Pittsburgh and the State University of New York–Oswego tied more frequent vacations to a reduced risk for heart disease. The key phrase in the research: “Vacationing may be good for your health.” It will be difficult to reach career goals if your career is waylaid by health problems 10 or 15 years before your planned retirement.
  • Unplug to beat stress. Stress is another topic that pops up in conversations with finance leaders. Our profession is full of deadlines, tough technical work, sometimes-cranky clients, and pressure to do more work with less. In a recent seminar, Shannon Waller of Strategic Coach spoke about how we can guard against stress and be more productive by taking full days away. These must be 24-hour periods with no work. No computer, no cellphone, no client calls. It allows us to relax, and when we return, we are ready to really dig in again.
  • Planning matters. Vacation, staycation, or just a long weekend—they will all work, but you have to plan and pay for time away. People are more likely to take vacation if they plan the days, put them on their calendars, and pay for the trip ahead of time. If you don’t have anything planned, you will be more likely to head back to the computer, but if you have something planned and you have written the check, you are more likely to follow through on your commitment to take time off.
  • Fraud deterrence. Companies that require workers to take time away from the office can help to prevent fraud. A worker engaged in fraud might fear detection while someone else performs his or her duties, so that worker might resist taking a vacation. Mandatory time off can be a deterrent for fraudsters.

Sandra Wiley is the COO of Boomer Consulting in Manhattan, Kan., and is a speaker on topics such as team building, talent development, and performance improvement.

Advertisement

latest news

September 4, 2025

Treasury posts preliminary list of jobs eligible for no tax on tips

September 4, 2025

California issues draft guidance for climate risk disclosure

September 4, 2025

Business outlook brightens somewhat despite trade, inflation concerns

September 3, 2025

New: Digital assets practice aid addresses auditing of lending, borrowing

August 29, 2025

Guidance on research or experimental expenditures under H.R. 1 issued

Advertisement

Most Read

The No. 1 risk to retirement – and one way to guard against it
Tax provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
Billy Long out as IRS commissioner after less than two months
Calculating AI’s impact on CPAs: New study quantifies time savings
AICPA unveils new QM resources to help firms meet Dec. 15 deadline
Advertisement

Podcast

September 4, 2025

Summing up economic sentiment and concerns about inflation and tariffs

August 29, 2025

Take a bold leap instead of a tentative step

August 28, 2025

Mark Koziel Q&A: Talent, sense of community, profession opportunities

Features

Calming nervous clients nearing retirement
Calming nervous clients nearing retirement

Calming nervous clients nearing retirement

7 retirement tips for small firm CPAs
7 retirement tips for small firm CPAs

7 retirement tips for small firm CPAs

Building a better CPA firm: Stepping up service offerings
Multi-colored plus signs

Building a better CPA firm: Stepping up service offerings

2025 tax software survey
Smiley, frowney, and neutral faces for Tax Software Survey.

2025 tax software survey

SPONSORED REPORT

Smart Strategies in Data Security and Risk Management

In an increasingly digital profession, data security has become one of the most critical challenges facing finance and accounting professionals today. Stay up to date with practical guidance to help you mitigate these risks and strengthen your security posture.

From The Tax Adviser

August 30, 2025

2025 tax software survey

August 30, 2025

Are you doing all you can to keep the cash method for your clients?

July 31, 2025

Current developments in S corporations

July 31, 2025

Paid student-athletes: Tax implications for universities and donors

MAGAZINE

September 2025

September 2025

September 2025
August 2025

August 2025

August 2025
July 2025

July 2025

July 2025
June 2025

June 2025

June 2025
May 2025

May 2025

May 2025
April 2025

April 2025

April 2025
March 2025

March 2025

March 2025
February 2025

February 2025

February 2025
January 2025

January 2025

January 2025
December 2024

December 2024

December 2024
November 2024

November 2024

November 2024
October 2024

October 2024

October 2024
view all

View All

http://JofA_Default_Mag_cover_small_official_blue

PUSH NOTIFICATIONS

Coming soon: Learn about important news

CPA LETTER DAILY EMAIL

CPA Letter Logo

Subscribe to the daily CPA Letter

Stay on top of the biggest news affecting the profession every business day. Follow this link to your marketing preferences on aicpa-cima.com to subscribe. If you don't already have an aicpa-cima.com account, create one for free and then navigate to your marketing preferences.

Connect

  • X Logo JofA on X
  • facebook JofA on Facebook

HOME

  • News
  • Monthly issues
  • Podcast
  • A&A Focus
  • PFP Digest
  • Academic Update
  • Topics
  • RSS feed rss feed
  • Site map

ABOUT

  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Submit an article
  • Editorial calendar
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms & conditions

SUBSCRIBE

  • Academic Update
  • CPE Express

AICPA & CIMA SITES

  • AICPA-CIMA.com
  • Global Engagement Center
  • Financial Management (FM)
  • The Tax Adviser
  • AICPA Insights
  • Global Career Hub
AICPA & CIMA

© 2025 Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. All rights reserved.

Reliable. Resourceful. Respected.