I’m writing this freshly returning from a fantastic vacation. Part of what made this vacation so great was that there were no emails, text messages, conference calls, meetings, or one on ones to worry about. This was complete off the grid relaxation, and it was great. Leading up to the time off, I noticed a lot of co-workers saying things like “I don’t know how you can function without email” or “I’d be worried about my customers too much.” Sometimes it’s hard to step away from work. Furthermore, taking time off can create extra stress because you anticipate a backlog of work when you get back. Below, we’ll talk about the benefits of “checking out” as well as 5 simple steps to make sure your vacation is a stress free success.

People who take time off from work are more satisfied with their jobs.

An Oxford Economics Assessment of paid time off showed that in the US, 42% of employees with time off days leave unused days at the end of the year to the tune of 8.1 days. Did you use all of your days last year? There are a lot of psychological studies that show the benefits of psychological detachment from work. Increased detachment has been shown to make people more satisfied with their lives and less stressed. This is all accomplished without being less engaged at work. People who take time off also experience higher job performance and increased job involvement. The bottom line is – take time off, it’s good for you. Here’s 5 steps to make sure your vacation is (work) stress free.

1. Expect that it’ll take you some time to get back into the swing of work.

It takes a couple days to fully wind down from work before the start of a vacation. It also takes a couple days to wind back up after your return. Unfortunately, there isn’t a switch that just puts you in work mode. Making that transition is a process. When planning your vacation you should expect your productivity to ramp back up once you get back. You should also expect your productivity to ramp down for the last couple days while still at work. That’s why it’s really important to…

2. Identify the 3 Main Things that absolutely need to get done while you’re gone.

Really limit this list to 3. Think of things that absolutely have to get done while you’re gone. Not projects, but tasks. Think in the context of “my day will be successful if I do nothing but.” Examples could be ‘get payroll finished,’ ‘schedule automatic updates,’ or ‘clearly delegate routine tasks.’ This allows business as usual to continue in your absence. The confidence of business as usual will go a long way to making your vacation stress free. Since it’s impossible to plan for everything, you need to make sure and…

3. Set a simple clear chain of command while you’re gone

Whether you’re serving your customers or managing a team, you need to have a simple and clear chain of command for your responsibilities. You customers need to know where to go and your coworkers do to. If you’re managing a team, the temptation is to make this chain dependent on the task. You’d see “For client issues, see person A. For product questions, see person B. For issues related to the team, see person C.” It’s a lot better for everyone if you have one single point of contact and then let that person direct traffic.

4. Leave 3-5 tasks that you enjoy for when you get back

While winding down until the start of your vacation, make sure to leave 3-5 smaller and simple tasks for when you return. If you leave some things that you enjoy doing, that will help shorten the time it takes to transition back into work mode. With them being smaller tasks, it also lets you not worry about what has to be done when you get back because you know you have some fun work to do upon your return.

5. Shut Off Your Phone!

This is the single most important part of checking out from work and actually enjoying your vacation. Smart phones are addicting. As we’ve talked about before, we get addicted to the technology. With so many people using their personal phones for work, it makes disconnecting that much harder. Even if you use your phone for pictures, you can still shut off the email function and any other work alerts. If you have to, use Airplane mode to keep yourself off the grid.

Remember, those who take vacations from work are happier with their job, perform better, and even happier with their overall life. So the question is, where do you want to go for vacation? Who do you want to go with? Start planning today!

Thanks for reading!

– Tim

Photo: Jeff Shewan, Evan Forester