Are You Guilty of Working While On Vacation?

I am guilty! But, I have a good excuse…I love my job, my team and my clients! Every year, I take a vacation but I always bring my laptop so I can return emails and stay connected to both our team and clients. On two vacations, I did go totally offline because I was in locations where I did not have phone or internet access. I learned I could survive and liked being totally disconnected from work. For my vacation this year, I set a goal to take my third vacation, where I am totally disconnected. To do this effectively, it will take some pre-planning. If you want to rid yourself of the pressure to respond to work-related emails during vacation, look at the tips below to help you stay offline during your personal time off.

Prepare Staff

Before you enter fully into vacation mode, make sure your team is thoroughly prepared for the tasks they will take on for you or make them aware of any possible things that could come up in your absence. Review your projects and tasks with your team. The easiest and most efficient way to prepare your team is by creating a project or task list/plan with the dates you are gone, the tasks they are taking over with instructions on how to complete them properly, and all necessary login information to access your work. This will give employees a clear vision of your expectations and prepare them for your delegated tasks.

Email Clients

Let your clients know you will be out of the office and what dates you will be unavailable. When clients know you are off the grid and who they can connect in the event they need support, this will significantly reduce the number of times that a client needs you.

Create a Clear Out-of-Office

It is crucial that you turn on your “out-of-office” email notification that is clear to employees and clients. Explicitly note the dates that you are gone and will have no email access during this time. This will ensure that employees and clients know you will be unavailable and avoid them thinking you are ignoring them. There are some positions and fields where clients and employees need to get a hold of someone immediately to answer a question or complete a task. For this reason, you should always provide an alternative contact in your out-of-office notification.

Leave your Laptop Behind!!!!!

I know this is a hard one. It is a security blanket for the ‘what if.’ But, if you bring your laptop on vacation, you are most likely guaranteeing that you are planning to work while you are gone. It’s like carrying a big candy bar around when you are trying to eat healthier. Sooner or later, you will give in to the temptation. If your job requires you to have some form of work on hand in case of emergencies, bring only a work phone and make sure someone on the trip keeps you accountable to stay offline as much as you can.

Avoid “Checking in”

If you check in every few days while you are away, it is highly likely that people will ask for help, your opinion, or want you to make a decision on one thing or another. “Checking in” sends confusing signals to employees because they thought you were unreachable. You are less likely to get emails from people when you are off the grid, but the second you ask how everyone is holding up, you enable them to come to you anytime with their questions.

Trust your Employees

Trusting employees to take over some of your tasks might seem daunting, but they are eager to offer their help and have many skills to offer. You have trusted them to be a part of your team in the first place, so giving them some more responsibility will only increase their competence, and commitment to you and the organization. Preparing them with some cross-training before your trip will ensure they are fully equipped with the skills and alleviate some of your worries while you are gone. Think of it as providing growth opportunities for your staff. The more they take on, the more you will have time to work on strategic thinking tasks to move your department forward vs operational tasks. It also makes it that much easier to take a real vacation.

In an Emergency…it is OK to Connect

The last thing you want during your relaxing vacation or time off is to be thinking about what could be going wrong at work. To ease your mind and focus on your loved ones, let one or two team members know that it is ok to connect with you in case of an emergency. Clarify what scenarios constitute an emergency and then let them know you have absolute trust in their decisions on everything else. From there, if an emergency arises, they can text you a summary of the situation or provide a more detailed summary in your email.

What shocks many leaders is that, although they are in high positions with stressful schedules, with these tactics, they can take a break and sometimes relax too. In fact, it makes them better, more engaged leaders when they are able to check out and take a vacation. While being a leader comes with a lot of responsibility, you should never forgo your mental health altogether to keep the business running. As a leader, employees will look up to you as a role model for their behavior. If you don’t unplug from work mode during vacation, employees won’t either. Enjoy your time off, appreciate those around you, and develop your employees while you are gone.