The Power of a Pause

What high performers know about the importance of stepping away.

I get it. I’ve read those articles too. Take your vacations. But let’s be honest, stepping away from work and email always feels impossible. And if you live in the US, there’s also the guilt factor. It’s just not part of our culture. We have no federal guarantee of paid time off. In contrast, the European Union mandates at least 20 days of paid vacation. France and Germany not only support taking a month off, they culturally enforce it, with stronger labor protections and social contracts that value leisure and family time. US capitalism rewards productivity and presence, with many employees fearing that vacations will make them replaceable or miss opportunities. The advance of digital tools and smartphones has also further blurred boundaries between work and home life, meaning many Americans feel pressured to respond to emails or stay available even during “time off.” In medicine, we also train in a system that rewards self-neglect, then work in one that actually depends on it. But here’s the part that we probably don’t talk about enough. If you really want to think clearly, lead well, or solve problems that don’t have easy answers, you need to stop. Not slow down, stop. And there’s a reason for that that goes far beyond stress relief. So this summer, I bit the bullet. I did something I’ve never done before. I took the two-week vacation. But why is taking time off so important?

The Default Network Mode

Here’s one angle you might not have heard before: you can’t think clearly, creatively, or strategically unless you stop working. I mean really stop. The reason lies deep in the brain, in a network most people have never heard of: the Default Mode Network, or DMN. The DMN is a set of brain regions that activate when you’re not focused on a task. It’s most active when you’re daydreaming, walking without purpose, staring at the clouds, or lying on a beach with no agenda. In other words, it kicks in when your mind finally gets a break from trying to be productive.

But this so-called “default mode” isn’t really as idle as it sounds. It’s doing essential behind-the-scenes work such as stitching together memories, reflecting on experiences, simulating future scenarios, and making creative connections you’d never arrive at through force. This is where clarity comes from. Insight. Breakthrough ideas. The ability to see the big picture.

When we’re constantly “on” doing things like responding to emails, racing between meetings, and checking boxes, our brains live in a very different network, one designed for focus and execution. That system is great for productivity, but it doesn’t allow space for reflection or originality. You can get things done, but you won’t necessarily get the your personal best possible results. You won’t think expansively or reimagine what’s possible. Even Sarah Blakely, the founder of Spanx, describes getting in her car and driving around during the pandemic, even when she was not actually going in to the office. She simply needed to give herself some downtime to let her brain think more creatively, which she was missing because she wasn’t driving in to the office!

Vacations, especially those long enough to detach from routine, allow the DMN to come online. And that’s where the real value lies. It’s not just about recharging. It’s about giving your brain the room to do its best thinking—the kind that happens only when you're not trying so hard to think. So if you’re still feeling guilty about taking time off, consider this: the very part of your brain responsible for long-term strategy, creativity, and meaning requires you to unplug. Time off can be where your best work begins.

What Does The Research Really Say?

When it comes to research about vacations more specifically, one meta-analysis of multiple studies published in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that employees who fully disengaged during time off came back more focused and less emotionally exhausted. Another, in Harvard Business Review, showed that regular vacation-takers were not only more productive but also more likely to get promoted. They also reported vacations resulted in higher levels of happiness and energy, particularly if you 1) plan a month in advance and prepare coworkers for your time away; 2) the farther from home the better; 3) met with local knowledgeable guides or hosts; and 4) set travel details before going. In other words, a “smart” vacation.

According to other studies, the "sweet spot" for vacation benefits tends to be around seven to ten days, with well‑being and recovery notably peaking around day eight. A 2012 study in the Journal of Happiness Studies found that travelers' well-being increased steadily and reached a peak on vacation day eight before gradually declining. A German longitudinal study (274 white‑collar workers), demonstrated that while self‑reported creativity showed no immediate post‑trip boost, it did increase significantly two weeks after returning, especially when vacations involved mastery (learning something new while on vacation) and emotional detachment from work. Researchers concluded that detachment is a necessary precondition, while mastery of a new skill leads to higher impact. On the health front, regular one-week vacations over several years have also been associated with a lower cardiovascular risk and a longer lifespan. Taken together, the evidence suggests that vacations of about one full week (7–10 days) not only offer immediate mood and health benefits but also lead to later cognitive gains, especially in creativity, that unfold in the weeks after your return.

The Upshot

So what happened during my vacation experiment this summer? In medicine, we’ve long equated self-sacrifice with professionalism, as if exhaustion were a badge of honor. But I swallowed my pride, set the out-of-office reply, and stepped away, sending a signal that it’s okay for others to do the same. What surprised me is that catching up after two weeks away wasn’t any harder than after one. The world kept turning. The inbox calmed down. It turns out I’m not indispensable after all.

Was I more creative when I came back? Maybe. What I do know is that I returned with a sense of clarity, finally ready to tackle the projects I’d been avoiding—the ones gathering dust at the bottom of my list. And yes, the guilt still lingered. But would I do it again? Without hesitation.

The older I get, the more I realize that taking time off to explore the world with the people I love is not a detour from my work. It’s what gives the work meaning. These are the moments that anchor me. So take the break. Plan for it. Protect it. The inbox will recover. The time you invest in yourself, family, or friends, you’ll never get back.