TED Talks Daily
Sunday Pick: The Science of Recharging on Weekends and Vacations | ReThinking with Adam Grant
06 Jul 2025
Many people don’t use all their paid time off from work—and struggle to relax and recover on nights and weekends too. What does it take to make our breaks more restorative? Adam examines the evidence on recovery and burnout, explores how workplaces can reimagine vacation policies, and highlights what kinds of hobbies are best suited to different times of day. Available transcripts for WorkLife can be found at go.ted.com/WLtranscripts For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the Idea Search Application: ted.com/ideasearch.Interested in learning more about upcoming TED events? Follow these links:TEDNext: ted.com/futureyouTEDSports: ted.com/sportsTEDAI Vienna: ted.com/ai-viennaTEDAI San Francisco: ted.com/ai-sf Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Full Episode
Hey, TED Talks Daily listeners, I'm Elise Hu. Today, we have an episode of another podcast from the TED Audio Collective, handpicked by us for you. We've all heard how important it is to relax and recharge, but in reality, a lot of people don't use their vacation days or even unwind on the weekends at all.
This week, we're breaking down why that might not be a great idea in an episode of Work Life with Adam Grant. Today's pick from the archives is all about the science of taking a break. You'll learn how to prevent burnout and make the most of your time off to bounce back stronger than ever. You can find Work Life with Adam Grant wherever you get your podcasts.
Learn more about the TED Audio Collective at audiocollective.ted.com. Now onto the episode right after a quick break.
It was just so alien that I thought, this is something I definitely need to implement and try out.
This is Shashank Nizam, founder and CEO of a small aviation consultancy, SimpliFlying. A few years ago, he noticed that some of his team members were overworked.
I don't think they had taken a time off in the longest time possible. We're going to try something new. So he made an announcement. Everyone's going to take a week off every seven weeks.
That's right, mandatory vacation for everyone.
So we actually added a stick to it as well from day one.
Wait, so you punish people if they are working?
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