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794: 3 Reasons Why You Need a Vacation – Ariel Juday

Rest is a requirement — not a reward! If you don't have a vacation in your schedule, you'll want to after this episode! Kirk Behrendt brings back Ariel Juday, one of ACT’s amazing coaches, to explain how taking time away from the office can improve your health and well-being. As a bonus, it will also benefit your team! When was your last, true vacation? To learn the best way to plan for your next time off, listen to Episode 794 of The Best Practices Show!

Learn More About Ariel:

Learn More About ACT Dental:

More Helpful Links for a Better Practice & a Better Life:

Main Takeaways:

  • Vacations will improve your mood, your stress level, and your relationships.
  • There are different types of vacations. Take them throughout the year.
  • Don't muddy the waters. CE and vacation are not the same things.
  • To reduce stress, plan vacations in advance and have a system.
  • Your team benefits when you take a break from dentistry.
  • Taking time away will make you a better team leader.
  • Take pictures for evidence of a good time.

Quotes:

“We've seen from experience that when our teams and our doctors do take vacation, they see a lot of the benefits that we're going to talk about. The first one is they're less stressed. And no matter what your vacation looks like — like you said, it's different to every person — it really helps lower your stress. I think it gives them a better outlook on work and life. At least my doctors and for myself, personally, they seem more motivated when they come back from vacation.” (1:55—2:26) -Ariel

“When you go on a great vacation and you hit the mark on what that means for you, you come back and you're a better person. Dentistry is a physical sport. It is. And rest is not a reward — it's a requirement. You work in a two to three-inch space most of your days. You have to get away so that you come back a better person.” (2:28—2:51) -Kirk

“Ange, who I love on our team, posted an emoji on our team group chat saying, ‘There's no vacation like when your boss takes a vacation.’ And I was like, ‘What does that mean?’ She's like, ‘We do love it when you go away because we can breathe.’ One of the things that you have to understand as a dentist is your team members love it when you go away. They can like you more. So, you need a break from dentistry.” (2:58—3:25) -Kirk

“We see improved health when we take vacations. Whether you're traveling, whether you're staying home and rejuvenating yourself, there’ve actually been studies that say it can reduce depression because you have more of those pleasant emotions and you have a greater opportunity to have that experience where you're in awe, you're in amazement, you're finding things that interest you, and it overall boosts your mood. I know this is true for me, but I've even heard that research shows that even planning the vacation can boost your happiness even up to eight weeks before the trip. For me, it's exciting to plan a vacation. I know not for everyone, if they have that friend that's planning it. But I think once it's on the calendar, I at least notice I have something to look forward to.” (3:38—4:32) -Ariel

“If you're a dentist listening to this, your first thought is, ‘Well, how do I get away? I've got to get away from my practice.’ I'm here to tell you, because we're trying to help you, you can run an amazing dental practice on 48 weeks a year. You totally can. If you can't, there's something wrong with it. Then, when you get it to 48 weeks a year, then you go to 45 weeks a year that you're working. Then, you go to 40 weeks a year, and so on. That's called better thinking, and you totally can.” (5:54—6:24) -Kirk

“One of your obstacles that you're already putting in your brain is, ‘My patients need coverage.’ I think coverage is the dumbest word that's ever been created. People say, ‘Well, I need coverage.’ I'm like, ‘Coverage for what?’ ‘Coverage for my patients.’ I'm like, ‘What do they need, blankets? Umbrellas? Why?’ ‘Well, my patients need coverage.’ No, they don't. You can create a great practice, and you have friends. You have a friend that's an oral surgeon. You probably have another friend that's a GP that could cover patients. And the more comprehensive your dentistry is, the less people are calling you all the time saying, ‘This broke, that broke, that broke.’” (6:24—6:57) -Kirk

“The Health Policy Institute for the ADA recently published their statistics, and the average dentist in the United States works 220 days. That is ridiculous. It's crazy high. Our best producers work in the low 180s or mid-170s, depending on the nature of their practice. So, working more doesn't mean it's better. And there's a certain point where more days don't add any value. They just cook you.” (7:12—7:39) -Kirk

“You have to plan it in advance. We do have some teams, they take those spur-of-the-moment vacations. That's okay for some people. But others, that actually increases stress. Some of our dentists need that permission to relax because it's planned. The patients know that they're on vacation. The team members know that they're on vacation. For me, when I was on vacation over the long weekend, I wasn't worried about checking my emails because all of my teams and all of our team members knew. I didn't come back to an excessive amount of emails because it was pre-planned, and everyone knew in advance. So, I know that some people say, ‘Oh, the day back from vacation is always stressful.’ I think if you plan it in advance and you have good communication, it doesn't have to be.” (8:16—9:08) -Ariel

“If you're a team member listening to this podcast, you can tell your doctor that we gave you permission. Don't answer the phone when a dentist is calling you and you know that they're at the beach. You can hang up on them and you could say, ‘I listened to this podcast, and they told me I can hang up.’ Don't call the office. There's no reason to call the office. You have to trust that things are going to be done while you're gone. When you start to do that, everybody feels better, and you don't lose the brain space of being where you are in this whole process.” (9:13—9:45) -Kirk

“Once you're healthier and happier, then you'll notice that you have an improvement in your relationships. There's a study showing that when couples, friends, siblings, or family members go on vacations and they're participating in different events or activities, they notice that there's different satisfaction when they return home and resuming to the normal life routine. So, I think a really good thing to remember is, whoever you're going on vacation with, you're going to build a better relationship. But then also, when you come back, you're healthier and you're less stressed. Now, it's easier to be a team leader for your team and your patients. You can't pour from an empty cup. We noticed that your relationships actually improve because you took time away.” (9:51—10:43) -Ariel

“The teams that I work with, the ones that actually take time to take a legit vacation and take time to rest and recover and have some fun, they come back, and they have more ideas and they're more motivated. They're excited about things, and the little things don't get to them as much. I think they have less stress. They are, overall, in a better mood. So, when things do come at them, it's not as big of a deal. So, I would say the mental motivation of like, ‘Okay, I took a break. I'm ready. I'm feeling better,’ and then we're able to get right back into either strategic planning, or if they're in the middle of a priority, a lot of the time, they find that their team kept the ball rolling. Or even better, their team was on vacation at the same time, and the team comes back, and the whole team is like, ‘All right, we're ready. Let's go.’ But I really feel like vacation is a tune-up for your brain, your mental health, your thinking — your whole process.” (15:43—16:52) -Ariel

“Now, more than ever, work has to be in a container. We're in a digital age where work comes at us at all speeds. You can actually check your schedule while you're at the beach to see if your team members are filling the schedule next week with the right things. And that is wasted brain space. You should not be working when you're on vacation.” (17:26—17:45) -Kirk

“When it comes to communication protocols, that's a really important one. When your team members go away, don't text them. After hours, never text them. You should never text them or call them. I do send texts to my team members occasionally, but it'll be on a Sunday, or I've just got to get it out of my brain, and I'll purposely write in the text, ‘Please do not respond to this. I just wanted to get this out of my head. We can totally address this next week.’ You want to give your team members the space to relax, and you want to give yourself space to relax when you come away, because you can come back. And you'll be a stronger human being.” (17:54—18:31) -Kirk

“The older you get, you realize time is the new rich. Let me say that again. Time is the new rich. I don't care how much money people make. You only get so many days. So, make sure you're spending these days appropriately.” (18:36—18:49) -Kirk

“I can always hear the voice of the great Peter Dawson, who said, ‘Blue time is the most important time in your life.’ I asked him, ‘What’s blue time?’ He goes, ‘Kirk, the most important moments of your life will never happen at work. You’ll have a few moments that are great, and you’ll remember those. But your most important time will be when you’re away doing things that matter to you. I love to call that blue time.’ I’m like, ‘Thanks, Pete, for that.’ So, make sure you schedule a lot of blue time in your schedule.” (18:49—19:17) -Kirk

“CE and vacation are not the same thing. I'm talking to you as the dentist who's listening to this, driving to work. I know what you're thinking. You're like, ‘Oh, yeah. We take a lot of vacation. I took my spouse to this symposium last year, and it was at the beach.’ Okay, listen. If you're in a room taking CE and your significant other or spouse is at the pool, that is not a vacation. That's called resentment. While that’s nice and that’s tax deductible, in some cases, your head is somewhere else. And yes, you’re getting energized. But you’re not saying to your significant other, ‘You’re the most important thing in my life.’ So, when you go away, call it out. ‘We’re going away.’ When we’re going to CE, say, ‘We’re going to CE. Do you want to come?’ I think it’s important that we don’t muddy the waters when it comes to our time.” (19:20—20:14) -Kirk

“You have to make that separation [between CE and vacation]. Like I said, if you're there and you want to turn it into some sightseeing, go for it. But don't call it a vacation. Don't trick yourself into that because it's not the same, and your body doesn't recover the same.” (20:52—21:05) -Ariel

“I don't know who I remember this from, but they always said take a lot of photos because your kids, if you have kids, will remember the photos more than the actual experiences themselves. I've always been given the camera and wanted to take the photo. And I remember, growing up, there were not a lot of photos of my dad. There are a handful, but not a ton of them because he was always taking the photos. So, now I'm very diligent about giving my phone to strangers — that's a whole other conversation — and say, ‘Take this photo.’ My family is like, ‘No, please don't.’ But what's really funny is if you organize them in Google Photos, and I do them by month, so I'll go August of 2010, they'll go back and go, ‘Wow!’ And to date, there are probably over 200,000 photos in there. I just want them, whatever happens, to look back and go, ‘When did we do that? Oh my gosh, look at that!’ So, make sure you leave evidence behind you that it was a great ride.” (21:46—22:47) -Kirk

“Take a vacation, whatever vacation means to you. It's not the same. Not everyone is going to want to go to the beach. Not everyone is going to want to go on a ski trip. And I say even if it's a staycation — now, I caution. If it is a staycation, still make it a vacation but you don't have to go anywhere. Some of the best time off I've had is staying home and doing nothing or not having an agenda.” (22:57—23:23) -Ariel

“The daily life and the stress, you have to get away from it. That way, you can actually come back and be better at it. Improve your health, improve your relationships, your performance, and your overall perspective.” (23:51—24:04) -Ariel

“Understand what recovery means for you. Some people go on vacations, but they're exhausted when they come back. I'll give you an example. A long weekend somewhere — I want to call it out — it's a long weekend with friends and family and it's not really a vacation. It's a “go” thing. I used to think Disney was a vacation. No — Disney is not a vacation. It was awesome, but it was an adventure. I was wiped out once I got back from going to Disney when the kids were little.” (24:24—24:53) -Kirk

“Part of your reason to become an entrepreneur or become a dentist was, ultimately, you wanted the freedom — freedom to choose how to treat people, freedom to choose how to work, freedom in what to do, how to do it, and spend your days. And [vacation] becomes an important component. You have to recover from this sport called dentistry.” (26:19—26:38) -Kirk

Snippets:

0:00 Introduction.

1:27 Why this is an important topic.

3:32 The benefits of a vacation.

8:05 Plan vacations in advance.

9:48 Vacations improve relationships.

12:03 Travel hacks.

15:29 Rest to reset your mind.

19:18 CE and vacation are not the same.

22:49 Final takeaways.

Ariel Juday Bio:

Ariel has a master’s in healthcare administration and several years of dental experience in all aspects of the administrative roles within the dental office. Her passion is to work with dental teams to empower team members to realize their full potential in order to better serve patients, improve office systems to ensure a well-functioning team/office, and to help everyone have fun in the process!
ACT Dental Team

ACT Dental Team

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