Coincidentally, my last blog post and this newest entry were written while on varying degrees of vacation. The first—a quick, long-weekend trip— and this, a week-long family vacation on the beach. While it’s important to give one hundred percent at work, it’s just as important to take a break, refresh and get away from it all.

To do our best, we all need an opportunity to decompress and recharge. Just because we’re young professionals doesn’t mean we have an endless supply of energy and are nonstop worker bees at the office.  A few days away can make you a more productive employee, give you a fresh perspective and reinvigorate you with the energy to jump into the next big thing when you walk back into the office.

I know what you might be thinking—I just started working, I can’t afford to go on vacation—but then I’d just tell you to get creative. A vacation can be somewhere across the country or right in our own backyard. Summer in Buffalo is beautiful and there are plenty of opportunities and places to go to shed excess stress. From camping in Letchworth to planning a few day trips to various sites downtown, a vacation can still be a vacation even if you don’t leave your ZIP code.

Don’t get me wrong—if you’ve only been at your job for a month or are in the middle of a big project, I’m not advocating for you to start taking days off. Instead, make the weekend your own mini-vacation.  Stay away from the office for two days. Check your phone minimally. Make the weekend count. Do the things that tourists do, like riding the Maid of the Mist or wandering around the Naval and Military Park—things that we all take for granted living here each day.

The most important thing to remember is that you’re getting away from the office for a few days in order to be more productive when you return. Sure, you can be the tough guy who never takes a day off, but eventually that will start to show, too. Then you’ll not only know you need a break—everyone else will too.

Looking to start your own business, move up in your career or change job fields completely? Send your questions to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and you could be featured in an upcoming blog.

Photo from Flickr / knoteuh6.