I haven't taken a winter vacation in five years. Last fall I decided to reverse that disastrous trend and make my plans in advance. I carved out a week in February when leaving the snow and cold of Boston would be most delicious and made my reservations early.

While my colleague, Ana, opted for the fresh snow of Whistler in Canada for her winter get-away, I chose the sun-drenched west coast of Costa Rica (see photo at right). And although the country is becoming well known for its beauty and diverse terrain, as well as hiking, surfing and general "eco-tourism," I just wanted to plop myself on a beach for seven days and read my book. Which is exactly what I did.

Why do I tell you this? Because I made a mistake in waiting too long for this vacation! And I'm not the only one who pushes vacation time aside in favor of working. This is a bad trend that I see happening all around me.

We're All Working Harder

I don't mind telling you, by the time I reached that sunny beach I was exhausted. My hours in the office are long and my job is pretty intense. If I don't "have my father's Oldsmobile," I certainly don't have his job either! This is true for most of the people I know and work with. I can honestly say that I don't know anyone who is not working harder than their fathers ever did — either growing a business, managing a division, changing a business model, introducing new products to the market — whatever. We are all working very hard — and, in some cases, too hard without a break!

Performance Suffers

When we work hard for long periods of time without taking a physical or mental break from our work, we lose our edge and our perspective on the job. So, the decisions we make may not be the best for ourselves or for our businesses. We also lose the important creative juices that keep us fresh and give us the ability to see our jobs in new and different ways.

What happens when we get caught in a trap of overworking (and it is a trap!) is that eventually our performance suffers.

We have the power to change this scenario and the solution can be as simple as taking a vacation!

Get a Fresh Perspective — and Creative Juices Flowing Again

I had a delightful surprise in Costa Rica (and I'm not just talking about the pina coladas!). About three days into my vacation, I started thinking about my business — but not in a worrisome or stressed way. I wasn't thinking about particular searches I'm working on now or the candidates who were waiting for me to interview them. I started thinking about ways I could do some things differently. I started thinking about some new approaches to finding and interviewing candidates and how I might expand my current processes. I started thinking about how I could increase the "value-add" for our clients and our candidates. And — it was fun! I came back with two action items to improve on our search process and we've implemented them already.

So here are three recommendations to ensure you and your employees get that well-deserved respite:

• Check your available vacation time to see that you are current. If you've got too much time in that "vacation time account," schedule a vacation now!
• Review your company's vacation policy. If it's not in the 21st century, you had best get it up to speed. Many companies now give three weeks of vacation time at a minimum — even for new employees. Check with your HR professional or call in a company that designs benefits packages if you think you may need help in doing this.
• Make sure your direct reports aren't overdue on vacation time. I had no one standing over me urging me to take time off. But, if you're a manager, it's incumbent upon you to make sure your people are doing their best work. And keeping them at peak performance means avoiding burn-out.

I vowed while I was on vacation that I wouldn't let another five years go by without a pina colada in my hands. Remember, life is short — take your vacations!