Summer Holidays Stress Workers Out

 

 

A new report reveals that going on summer holiday may be more stressful than 

working. The study, by the UK’s Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM),

questioned 2,500 of its members about attitudes towards long summer breaks.

It found forty per cent of managers do not come back from a holiday feeling relaxed.

A worrying finding was that many workers came back from a holiday more stressed

than when they left. Many in lower- and upper-management positions actually work

while they are on vacation. The researchers discovered that 80 per cent of those 

surveyed answer work-related e-mails, around 50 per cent make and take business

-related phone calls and 10 per cent go into the office. Over 90 per cent of managers

worried about returning to hundreds of e-mails.

Information technology and the weakened global economy are the main causes of

managers being unable to de-stress while on holiday. Penny de Valk, chief executive

of the ILM, said: "Gone are the days when people cut off contact with work for a 

fortnight over the summer and made a complete break. While technology means

that it is easier than ever to work remotely, it also makes it extremely hard to 

switch off. Uncertain economic times also mean that many UK employees are 

keeping one eye on their job at all times, when what they really need is time away 

from the office to rest and re-energise.” The study also revealed that on average, 

it takes two days and seventeen hours into a holiday to totally unwind. Ten per cent

of managers said it took them up to a week to fully get into holiday mode.



 

1. UNWIND: Which of these things are best to de-stress? Rank them and share your rankings with your partner. Change partners and share your rankings again.

  • music
  • talking to friends
  • alcohol
  • sport
  • going for a walk
  • sleep
  • watching a movie
  • going online
 
 


T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.


1.

reveals


2.

questioned



3.

attitudes



4.

related



5.

returning


6.

main



7.

cut off



8.

remotely


9.

unwind


10.

fully

a.

major

b.

connected

c.

de-stress

d.

surveyed

e.

disconnected

f.

shows

g.

from afar

h.

totally

i.

opinions

j.

coming back



3.STRESS DISCUSSION

STUDENT A QUESTIONS 


c)

What kinds of things stress you out?

d)

Do you think holidays are stressful?

e)

What do you think of managers who can’t stop working even when they’re

on holiday?

f)

What are the best ways to reduce stress?

g)

What is the dangerous thing about stress?

h)

Should bosses tell managers to totally disconnect while on holiday?

i)

Should workers get paid if they answer phone calls and mails on vacation?


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Student B Questions

b)

Does information technology add to or reduce your stress?

c)

Do you find it hard to switch off from e-mail and computers?

d)

What should companies do to make employees take a proper break?

e)

How long does it take you to unwind?

f)

What do you know about stress and its dangers?

g)

What would you say to someone who worked while you were on holiday

with them?

h)

Do you ever worry about a full e-mail InBox?

i)

What questions would you like to ask a manager who works on holiday?

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