Vacation

Summer’s here, and it’s time again to go somewhere with your family/friends and do something fun away from the office.

I recently had an executive confide in me that he hated to go on vacation! It’s not that he didn’t want to be with his family and his friends. It was the fact that he felt so punished when he came back to the office where he faced an avalanche of emails, multiple people who wanted to meet with him, and a ton of decisions that needed to be made as soon as possible, etc.

I know of another executive who took a week off for a family vacation to the beach and because of work pressures actually worked the entire time he was away. When he came back, he was less rested than before going on vacation. More than being exhausted even, he was frustrated with himself that he and his family suffered from his work distraction and duties.

“I’ll never do that again,” he told me. “I lost a memory with my family that I can’t get back.” He was angry at himself—and at the people who caused the emergency that required his attention.

So, it’s no wonder many executives and professionals today just move the office to their vacation spots. They feel the best way to not be punished so much with the daily grind when they get back is to just keep working (and keeping up) while on vacation.

But of course, there’s a dichotomy here:  If you work while you’re on vacation, you’re not really taking time off. You’re just moving your office.

This entire scenario gets even stickier these days when many of us are regularly working a few days a week from home offices. Sometimes it’s even harder when working from home to draw a line between “in” and “out” of the office.

So, what’s the solution?

Well first, you need some regular down time! You need to take meaningful time off completely away from work. And you need to draw firm boundaries while working from home.

I advise you to not check email or voice mail while on vacation. If work needs you badly enough, they’ll find you. Even if it means having too much to do when you get back—take a break. Likewise, turn off notifications after a certain hour while working from home. Keep office hours at your home office, too.

One of these is easier to do than the other (for one thing, you get to practice every day with those home office boundaries!), so let’s look at how to make stepping back easier while on vacation. Try this:

First, only check email once or twice a day while on vacation. For some, that means first thing in the morning before everyone gets up. Perhaps the second time to check might be at 4 or 5 p.m. That’s a way to address anything that might really need your attention—you know, the truly important and the absolutely urgent.

Next, reply to as few emails as possible. Remember, you are on vacation! Also remember: The more emails you send, the more you get in return. So, fewer replies from you means fewer emails next time you check.

But enough about emails and such.

The biggest thing I encourage executives to do when they get away from the office (or shut down the computer for the day) is to let their subconscious mind wander. This is where your good ideas come from. This is where problem-solving skills live. It’s hard to be strategic or creative in the midst of daily duties. You need to give your mind freedom to imagine and think big. Allowing your subconscious to become conscious helps you to find clarity with problems and bothersome situations.

Companies give vacation time for a reason. Sure, they need to offer it in order to be competitive in the marketplace, but more importantly, companies know their people need time off to relax, recharge and just get away.

Do yourself a favor and make your vacation a vacation. And create the boundaries you need the rest of the time, too.