With the digital age we live in, telecommuting is becoming pretty mainstream. You can grab a laptop and work from virtually anywhere that has a wifi signal. At the water park with your kids? Yep. Sipping tea at a coffee shop. Of course. While vacationing with your family after promising to unplug? This happens WAY too often! My husband is THE WORST at this and without a doubt it’s my biggest pet peeve when traveling with him. But because you can reach out and touch a phone/laptop/iPad pretty much at any given moment, it’s not surprising. It’s hard to disconnect when we live in such a connected world.
But unplugging is essential for your sanity. That’s why it’s so important for me to unplug when we take vacations. When you are pulled between two worlds, you miss so much of what a vacation provides. That stress relief that comes from unplugging and getting away vanishes. Here are some ways you can leave work at work when you are trying to disconnect, reset and recharge while on vacation {I’m going to make the HH read and reread this before we jet off on our next adventure!}:
Leave your devices behind: This option is most ideal, but not always practical. I can’t travel without a phone, but if you can get away with leaving your iPad or laptop at home, go for it. Some jobs require you still be reachable and other jobs require you to be on call even when on vacation, so this one is a tough one. But if you are REQUIRED to be reachable at all times, DON’T BE! Even if you have to bring a laptop or phone with you, consider leaving it in the hotel room when you head out for the day. This allows you to work on the plane ride to your destination, but stops the work once you get there.
Set realistic expectations: Meet with your boss or your team/co-workers before you head out. Talk through expectations on your vacation. Ask if you can completely unplug. Set firm rules. They need to know that your focus is your family or that your goal is to disconnect and recharge. Let them know that you won’t waiver on those rules. Set up a chain of command in your absence, so if there is an emergency, their first instinct isn’t to call and interrupt your vacation. Also, communicate details on when you’ll return and how you’ll hit the ground running when you come back. Then everyone is on the same page!
Set up your out-of-office responses: Make sure you do this on all forms of communication like email, voicemail, Skype. Make sure the message includes the earliest date you will be available to get back to them and who they can contact in the meantime, so they aren’t left hanging.
Have set office hours: If completely unplugging is impossible, let your spouse, your boss, etc. know that you will only be available and “in the office” for a certain set time a day. Maybe it’s one hour before you head out for the day, or it’s at night when you’ve returned to your hotel room. Never make it during the day if you can avoid it, or you’ll be distracted for most of the day.
Plan around the work: It makes no sense to take a vacation during your busy season. You’ll be a stressed out mess and might actually be putting your job in jeopardy. Be sure to schedule your vacations with work in mind or during slower periods in your company calendar.
Give yourself a pep talk: Sometimes it’s not the work or the boss that’s preventing you from unplugging, it’s YOU! If work is your life or you care about it so much {or both}, it’s so very hard to leave it for awhile or leave someone else in charge of your responsibilities. But it is not only good for your mental health, it’s good for your physical health, too. Vacations are good for the soul and the blood pressure, so you are doing your body a favor by letting go for a bit. Let yourself relax. The work will always be there to return to.
What are some ways you unplug when you are on vacation? Do you have a spouse or family member that can’t seem to disconnect when you travel? How do you handle it?
~Mavis
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Christina says
Great advice. My hubby has to be reachable when he’s off work. He has gotten much better at silencing his phone and only checking in every four hours or so when he’s off. Most of the time things can be taken care of with a text or email.
erin in ia says
I always say I’m not on vacation till I loose service (phone and internet). But I also like going to places that are remote and in nature.
Kirsten G. says
Great tips. We’re heading on a vacation soon. I use my phone for taking pictures so I can’t leave it behind for the day. I am going to make it harder for myself to check out my social media while we’re out & about.
My husband has to be pretty reachable for his job. Hopefully his colleagues will be mindful of the 3 hour time change while we’re away!
Lynne says
I always set out-of-office messages when I took vacations, but found an hour each day to go through my emails and deal with anything I could remotely. Less to deal with when I got back. A friend had a tactic (in the pre internet era) of always returning to the office from her vacations on a Thursday or Friday, but not telling anyone she’d be back before Monday. It gave her some time to deal with anything that had accumulated during her absence before the floodgates opened again.
Linda Sand says
My husband was on call during the second week of our two week vacation in Hawaii. Which means he checked in on his computer pretty much every day so as to be in the know when his turn came. That experience helped him move towards retirement.
Marcia says
We just got back from a week in Colorado with the kids. As we got closer to vacation, I came to realize that I was going to have to take my laptop. There was SO MUCH going on. I was sad about it, because the only time I get to unplug really is when I go camping in the desert and there is no signal. And then you are camping. In the desert.
Anyway. I just said “nope” and told everyone that I wasn’t taking my computer. Mostly I got “good for you” and “well, your phone is a computer” (I do NOT have my work email on my phone though, on purpose). Only 2 people have my cell # – my boss and my old boss, and they did not call.
I really didn’t want to lug the laptop, when on a plane with kids – I needed the space for coloring books and snacks.
So, a week, unplugged. A crap ton of work to do when I got back. But it was GLORIOUS.
For the most part, if you have to work when on vacation, your company is under-staffed.
Rebecca in MD says
Great topic for discussion. I just retired after 40 years in the workforce. Back when I started out, we didn’t have email and cell phones, and that was wonderful. You got the occasional phone call at home, but you could always deal with it when you wanted, and certainly didn’t have that problem when you were away on vacation.
Vacation is supposed to be a paid benefit, so I personally think expecting people to be available when they are on vacation should merit extra compensation – – – say, $100 an hour. That would cut down on the company contacting you!
Companies abuse workers by taking advantage of 24/7 technology to keep people tethered when they should be off the clock. Families and a personal life should be placed in higher regard by all of us.