Clear off the desk. Change your outgoing message on the voicemail and inbox. Secure any personal items. These are the simple things we do to prepare for a break from work. If it were only that simple. Unfortunately, vacations are usually preceded by marathon work days and stress and bookended by, you guessed it, more marathon work days and stress. It’s probably why, according to a Boston College survey, more than a quarter of Americans don’t even bother taking vacation at all.

Holiday breaks are automatically built into public school calendars, eliminating the need to hem and haw on whether to take two, three, or any days off after Christmas. The guaranteed time off, however, doesn’t guarantee some of you won’t actually bring work home. Resist the urge.

Consider this (doesn’t that sound like a commercial?): 40 percent of workers reported their jobs as “very” or “extremely” stressful, with about a quarter of all surveyed considering work the number one stress in their life. Job pressures are believed to be responsible for 30 percent of back pain, 20 percent of fatigue, and 13 percent of headaches. Finally, it’s been estimated (and this is an old statistic) that work-related stress costs the job market more than $300 billion a year.

Convinced yet? I hope so. So as we draw into the New Year, turn off your BlackBerry, don’t log on to the system, delay going over those documents.

Instead, go to the movies, read a good book, and spend time with loved ones. Enjoy the break … we certainly will. See you next year!

Naomi Dillon, Senior Editor