Stressing out right after your vacation

I think by now, most Americans realize they don't take enough vacation. There are plenty of stories out there telling us we don't use all our vacation time, and polls measuring how many people are going to take a vacation this year and even reminders that vacations actually boost productivity in employees when they return to work. The prevalence of these stories tend to increase in the summertime, but you can readily find that several are published every year.

I try to be a good role model for my employees and take my vacation days, because I want them to know it is expected that they take time away from work. Even better, I do not work on my vacation - I let those emails pile up in my inbox while I'm away.

And I do return feeling refreshed. But then, I open my inbox and instantly feel behind. And that causes stress.

I understand why some people say that they don't take vacations because of work: There are not always people on hand to back you up and when you return, you feel like there is a mountain of work waiting for you. So why bother to go at all?

And yet, I still go on vacation. Vacation is my time with family or friends. My time to explore the world a little. And those things are important. The work can wait.

Do you plan on taking a vacation this year? Tell me in the comments why or why not.