Are you taking enough time off work?

My kids are not over the moon that that their dad was once a mathematician. As 1st and 2nd graders, I often overestimated what they could engage on. This meant that they had to endure many a frustrating time with me trying to explain things that they just weren't ready for yet. But every now and then I would witness a sudden burst of comprehension. I would see them do a calculation or grasp a concept with such speed that I was taken aback.

The point is, this always happened just after the holidays.

I've always been convinced that a decent break from what you regularly do works wonders for your brain and how it functions, making you more productive, creative and insightful. Theoretical scientists such as Mathematicians and Physicists will often tell you that they try to forget about a problem when they are really stuck. They often take a break, and then come back to it fresh. Personally, I've had my best ideas either during my vacations or right afterwards.

I'm just a single data point of course, but the research is growing that shows the importance of taking a break to brain function, performance and productivity.

Taking a break improves how you function

In 2006, a pair of researchers reported the results of tests on how 'novelty' stimulates the brain. Reporting in Science Daily, they demonstrated using brain scans that showing people unexpected novel images results in stimulation of the substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area of the brain (SN/VTA). The SN/VTA is known to be associated with propensity to learn and discover, indicating that novelty or a change in environment can stimulate learning. That certainly helps explain my kids 'school holidays effect'.

In the workplace the evidence is growing that taking regular breaks can increase performance and productivity. Micro and macro research both point to this conclusion.

• A Cornell University study in 1999 installed computer software to remind employees to take regular breaks. Those that received the reminders were 13% more accurate in their work.
• Research by the University of Singapore on work productivity concluded that those who spent a small proportion of their paid time perusing the Internet at random were 9 percent more productive than those who did not go online at all.
• Research by the OECD on the years 1990-2012 shows clearly that working for longer results in diminishing economic returns (see graph above).
• Nine of the top ten most productive OECD countries in 2015 were European, and subject to the European Union's Working Time Directive guaranteeing employees at least 20 days of paid vacation per year. The US, which has no statutory minimum, came sixth.

Are you vacation-phobic?

Project Time Off, a group focused on promoting the importance of breaks to employee performance and well being, recently shared research demonstrating that the average American has lost almost a full week of vacation since 2000.

Their research shows an increasing reticence to take time off work among Americans. Driven primarily by anxiety over workload, the research seems to indicate increasing work pressures felt by Americans and increasing feelings of personal responsibility for the context they work in. The resulting statistics are quite staggering. 55% of Americans did not use all their vacation in 2015, leaving 658 million days of vacation unused and forfeiting $61.4 billion in benefits.

Sadly, the research indicates that people who take less vacation may be misguided if they think that it will benefit them personally to be more committed to their work. Those who took 10 or fewer days of vacation per year were less likely to have received a pay rise or bonus compared to those who took 11 or more days.

And if that's not enough to chew on, think about the second order effects. Fewer vacation days means fewer days to spend that hard earned cash, meaning a lost opportunity for the economy. If Americans were to take even one more vacation day, it would generate $34 billion in total spending.

So wherever you are in the world, and especially if you're one of these people that roasts their turkeys in November, take all the vacation you can this holiday season and in the coming year! It's good for you, it's good for your employer, and it's good for the economy.

I lead McKinsey's internal People Analytics and Measurement function. Originally I was a Pure Mathematician, then I became a Psychometrician. I am passionate about applying the rigor of both those disciplines to complex people questions. I'm also a coding geek and a massive fan of Japanese RPGs.

All opinions expressed are my own and not to be associated with my employer or any other organization I am associated with.