How to break free from work-mode and enjoy your next vacation guilt-free
Always on, always connected, and always in danger of burning out in our modern world.
Most of us are within arm's reach of our smartphones. A keyboard click away from everyone and everything in our digital world.
Unfortunately for our technological wonder tools, we're not robots.
We can’t plug into a wall and expect to always recharge in under an hour.
We're human beings.
We need sleep every day.
And beyond that, we need another kind of recharge from time to time—a vacation.
We need a chance to disconnect completely from the work.
Sometimes it’s a physical break we need. Other times, it’s a mental or creative one.
Here's the rub.
We're always on, always connected to everything.
And honestly, we're afraid of what might happen when we're not. That nagging, guilty voice creeps out from behind our anxieties to keep us off balance, asking:
How can we possibly take time away from work when we're doing our best just to balance the spinning plates every day? There’s so much to do!
Who will ever be able to do my work while I'm gone? Only I can do it!
What if something crazy happens while I'm out vacationing on a beach? It will all fall apart!
Plan Ahead and Become Cutthroat with Your Time
For several years, I've become what some may consider cutthroat with my time outside of the office. I turn off completely because I know the rest is much needed and well-deserved.
When I’m off:
I don't check email.
I don't answer calls.
I don't connect in any way to the work.
I wall off the work from the other parts of my life so that my focus can go to other things. Temporary breaks for a long weekend, a week, two, or sometimes three weeks at a time.
But doing so without planning is where most people get themselves into trouble. No plan leads to confusion, anxiety, and frustration for everyone involved.
For years, I've used the same five steps every time I disconnect from my own work completely guilt-free.
Today, I wanted to share them in this deep dive with you so you can do the same.
Follow these steps and promise you’ll be able to go get some of that Life outside of the office you’re dreaming of.
5 Simple Steps to Help Disconnect from the Work Guilt Free
Step 1 — Set Expectations Early
It's likely you'll know far in advance when you'll be off. Don't keep it a secret.
Let it be known to more than just your Google calendar. Give the people around you a heads up as soon as your plans have begun to solidify.
In most cases, they'll be excited and happy for you. They'll want to know how they can help. The sooner they know, the sooner they can mentally prepare for how your absence may affect them. This goes the same for anyone you work with regularly outside the office such as a client or a consultant.—
Step 2 — Delegate Obligations While You're Away
Whether you're a team leader or a team member with a supervisor, name the person who will take care of things while you're off. Make it clear to that person what to worry about and what not to.
If there isn't a specific person designated to cover for you, send the world to a general office number. Whoever picks up on the other end will be able to help the caller in some capacity until you return.
Step 3 — Schedule What You Can Outside of Your Vacation Window
As you get closer to the time you'll be off, do your best to work with your team to clear your schedule.
Try scheduling meetings, calls, interviews, and deadlines after your return date. If you can't avoid being out when something "important comes up," make sure your proxy can cover for you.
In 99.9% of cases, someone else will be able to figure out the problems that arise in your absence. Trust they will.
Step 4 — Set an Away Message That Makes It Clear You're Quite Unavailable
You're about to leave for vacation. You've put your team in a good position and all you have left to do is set your email flag on the ground that says, "Peace out."
The key here is to be clear about 3 key items: duration, proxy, and expectations. Here is a common template I use every time I'm out of the office:
"Hello There,
I'm currently out of the office, returning on (Month Day, Year). I do not have access to my email. I will promptly respond to your correspondence as soon as I am able to upon my return. If you need immediate help, please contact (Proxy Contact Name) at (Proxy Contact Info)."
Simple and clear. In three sentences, I've said everything I need to. I've made it known that I'm unavailable. I've also given someone trying to reach me an outlet to solve any emergencies while I'm gone.
Step 5 — 100% Shut Down While You're Off (No Exceptions)
When you're off, you're off.
Do not pass GO, and do not collect $200.
Take the work email off of your phone. In fact, do not, under any circumstances, look at your email on ANY device. Trust that your team will handle whatever they need to in your absence.
There's a story I once heard (from author Simon Sinek if memory serves) that has stuck with me for years.
Every year a company gives their employees "X" number of days of vacation that they must use before the next. During their allotted time off, the company bans employees from answering anything work-related. No emails. No phone calls. No contact to work at all. If an employee breaks the rule, and the office finds out, there is a steep cost. That employee becomes completely ineligible for all end-of-year bonuses, gifts, and extra benefits.
Yep.
Now that’s a boundary if I’ve ever heard one.
The lesson here: the company here wants its employees to actually disconnect from work, not just to say they will. When anyone can pick up that handy-dandy, little superphone at a moment's notice, the company knows what will inevitably happen next. The person on vacation will "just take a quick peek to check in on how things are going."
By giving employees a negative consequence to taking vacation time seriously, two things happen. Employees can go on vacation guilt-free and the business will be more likely to thrive upon their return.
Embrace the Power of a Guilt-Free Recharge
You're ultimately hurting yourself when you don't disconnect.
By being half in / half out, you're misusing the brief window you've given yourself. Then it becomes something that mildly resembles work. In that case, you're doing a disservice to the work because you can't completely focus on the work.
The only way to avoid this is an "out of sight, out of mind" mindset until you return.
If you’re reading this message the day it first releases, I've been out of the office for the past week.
There is a day and night difference between having full-blown anxiety during that time and letting my batteries recharge.
I prepared my team and I'm not worried at all about what's happening while I'm away. The world will not end. The work will be there when I return.
We are not our work, but work can be an integral part of many of our lives. It's important to maintain clear boundaries to help us balance our time with our work.
Don't be sorry that you're carving out time for yourself. You need it.
Don't be worried that you're letting people down. You're not.
Don't be surprised that the people around you want you to take time for yourself. They do and they want to support you.
If nothing else, remember we're all just creative humans doing our best to live our lives on a giant space rock floating through infinitely expanding nothingness.
The least we can do is give ourselves a real break now and again.
Until next week, here are links to what I’ve been working on and treasures I’ve found out in the creative wilderness.
Enjoy!
Recent Finds
Video — A great reminder from author Ryan Holiday of the importance to saying “No.” You’ll never get the time back from the things you begrudgingly agreed to.
Idea — I love Justin Welsh’s LinkedIn hot take on how to disconnect from the never-ending rush of news to help us interact better with the world around us. It’s not about becoming a hermit. It’s about being more selective with what information we allow into our lives and what we do with that information constructively.
Video — An epic lesson from a therapist at Heart Support about how we want to build habits versus what it actually takes to build them — “Feeling follows action.” Say it to yourself, write it down, and watch this clip. So powerful.
Quote of the Week
“No amount of anxiety makes any difference to anything that is going to happen.”
— Alan Watts
That's all for now.
Stay creative, my friends—and have a great week!
