The holiday season is upon us — and most of us are ready for a well-deserved break. I bring this up for two reasons. First, there’s solid evidence that time away from work supports the body and mind: vacations improve sleep, reduce stress, and increase positive mood and life satisfaction. Recent meta-analyses and reviews confirm these benefits and show they can last well beyond the trip itself. Second, large-scale data analyses have found that employees who actually take their allotted vacation are, on average, somewhat more likely to receive raises or promotions — although this is a correlation (other factors such as role, visibility, and network matter). Importantly, the benefits come when people truly detach and recover during their time […]