David Yamins | psychiatrist | Maimonides Medical Center | New York

Another mistake for today's hyper-paced people, according to Dr. David Yamins, a psychiatrist at Maimonides Medical Center in New York, is the classic sedentary vacation. You know about those - you've seen the commercials, even if you haven't experienced one yourself. People lying on the beach, in one position, for hours, with no task at hand but to sip from a margarita. Don't let the image persuade you. It's wrong. Wrong. "Workaholics cannot go on a do-nothing vacation thinking that it'll be possible for them to do nothing," Yamins explains. "If you go to a beach with the idea that you're going to be able to just lie there and turn it off, it's not going to happen."

Instead, get up and do something, anything, that involves muscles, heart rate, and sweat. Biking, hiking, swimming the English Channel, whatever appeals to your perennially active mind. "What often works for a workaholic is a physically oriented vacation, very active but doing something completely different from work activities," Yamins says. "It's the change in routine, not necessarily a slower pace, that makes a person feel sharp and fresh."

How about our friend, the anonymous executive who suffers from a chronic case of insecurity? Yamins prescribes physical exertion for her, too - but with a twist. For her and others like her, the vacation should be "not just active, but doing an activity where they count in the same way they do at work," says Yamins. "For instance, a rafting trip, where they're part of a team whose success depends on making the team work."

Because fears of leaving one's job behind all stem from that basic insecurity, a vacation that makes these people feel they've accomplished something is just the ticket. "It will refresh them while, at the same time, conveying a sense of self-worth and confidence that the job will be there for them when they get back," Yamins says.