by Nadia Ramoutar MMM Communications Coordinator                 Ireland                27.06.2026

If you had an 8th day in the week just for you, what would you do?

This may seem like an odd question. But it can be useful in determining what kind of holiday you need. This is a question that a life coach recently asked on a radio show. Her question led into how important it is to take proper holidays. Apparently there is an increase in people not taking time off work or their typical life to get away or have a proper holiday.

I am writing today to defend the important of holidays.

There are several reasons why holidays are important to us and why we need time each year to get away and to reconnect with loved ones – including with ourselves.

Try and bring some balance to your life as in if you have sedentary job or work, think of a holiday that brings you more activity. For example being out in the sun and getting more Vitamin D can be important for us if we are usually always in doors. Getting some extra walks in or even a swim might be helpful. This can even reset our health for the whole year!

Reconnecting with family and loved ones is important on holidays and it is a time to make your bonds with others stronger. It’s about taking the time to notice on another and give attention that maybe you normally don’t have time to do. But it can also be stressful to be with other people more than you are used to being so it is also important to speak up. Daily, state your needs on your holidays. If you are with people who want to do too much, tell them upfront you will not be doing so much. If they need rest, then let them get it.

A holiday is a good chance to get away from screens and to reconnect with people and ourselves. Sometimes we have so much pressure on us being on screens all the time for work. So making time to be off screens is worth the effort.

Fill your holiday with what you love, just like you would if you had an 8th day to enjoy. Be sure that each day you have something to look forward to enjoying. Work can be stressful even if you enjoy it, so taking a total break for schedules may be a nice change. Leave some time for the spontaneous. Though sometimes now if you are going somewhere popular you will have to make reservations in advance.

When returning to work, try to ease back into work so the benefit of your time away lingers a bit longer.

Have a wonderful holiday!