When you head off on holiday for a well earned break, the intention is you relax and do something different. Instead, if you’re thinking about work, especially if it’s your own business or you’re in a leadership position, it can be difficult to switch off.

If you followed my tips in the previous post for preparing for your holiday and you’ve effectively delegate to your team, you'll be in a better position to really relax and enjoy your time-off.

• Plan ahead.
• Set an appropriate Out of Office message.
• Rescheduled or deferred tasks and decisions until after your holiday.

However, if you feel the need to stay in contact with the office or get constantly drawn into work related issues, either from choice or necessity, it may be a little harder to do and impacts on your precious holiday time.

Remote and flexible working are all very well, but it doesn’t make it easy to switch off and completely disconnect. You’re now able to connect with or be contacted by work, wherever you are. Even if you don't have your laptop with you, there’s still your smartphone (and/or a smartwatch).

Yes, they’re great for staying in touch. The majority of us also use them to take photos, capture our memories on holiday and share those moments on social media.

Maybe you do plan to take your laptop, so you can 'keep in touch' with work or just check your email. The chances are, wherever you go in the world, you’ll have access to the mobile network and wi-fi for some if not all of your holiday time.

There’s a sense of FOMO or :

• "What if X happens while I’m away?" … or 
• "What if someone needs to get in touch?" 

This fuels the need to be contactable, even when you’re on holiday. 

It might be reassuring to know you can be contacted or keep on top of things, but it can also be stressful and detract from the whole point of taking a break from work.

When I went on sabbatical several years ago, it took about six weeks to totally switch off from work. This was before the days of smartphones and wi-fi everywhere.

It took me until week six to realise I wasn’t even thinking about work anymore. That was after SIX weeks, not just two, the average time most people have for a summer holiday!

Protect your holiday time from work

If you feel the need, or have to work, avoid creating tension and disagreements with your partner or family about ‘always working’ or having to interrupt holiday time because you have to take a call or deal with an email. Create a few boundaries or agreed ‘work time’.

• Ideally none!
• In the morning or evening only.
• Limit the time to no more than an hour. If it’s longer than that - you’re working, not checking in.
• If you do plan on working - decide when and for how long and stick to that.
• Minimise work time to maximise your holiday time.

Do you really NEED to work or are you having trouble disconnecting or letting go?

Are you ignoring friends and family while you’re checking your email?

• How essential is it that you deal with that email or call right now, especially if you’re in a different timezone?
• What will you realistically be able to do while you’re out of the office?

Disconnect from your digital life

Now all our devices are sync’d 24/7 you run the risk of being disturbed by every incoming email and notification, even when you don’t want to be.

I was chatting with someone the other day and while they were on holiday, their smartwatch kept going off with the email alerts and notifications. Of course they were getting distracted, while also wondering what was going on.

• Switch off alerts and notifications on your mail and messaging apps to reduce distractions and interruptions.
• Set ‘Do Not Disturb’ time so you can be out and about enjoying yourself or relaxed with a book and not be distracted. YOU then chose when to check your messages and emails.
• Switch to silent or airplane mode or switch it off completely. My phone spends most of it’s time on silent. I check notifications when I come back to it or switch it on to ringer when I’m expecting a call or need to hear it.

How do you feel when you’re offline or away from technology for any length of time? The more connected we are, the more it becomes a habit.

Reduce the dependency on that digital connection and connect with the real world and what’s going on around you.

Take the opportunity while you’re on holiday to have a technology detox for a few days. Keep that habit going when you’re back at work.

Time to Think

It’s important to disconnect mentally and physically while you’re on holiday. To get totally absorbed in something different, experience new things and create memories and make the most of your limited holiday time.

It helps de-stress, gives you a sense of perspective and time to think. It’s certainly something I don’t see people do enough and at a time when everyone is trying to do more and more, we actually need to do less and leave more time for doing nothing.

Even if you use your smartphone for taking photos and videos, it’s easy to end up experiencing your holiday through the lens of a camera. Engage with it first, then capture the moment.

Switching off is just as important as being permanently connected. You have your best creative ideas and moments of insight when you’re calm, relaxed and doing something else. 

More on that later.

How about you? Do you enjoy working while on holiday, do you do it out of necessity or are you able to leave work behind?

Read more:

7 Tips To Avoid Last Minute Pre-holiday Chaos (Blog post)

Managing childcare and work during the holidays (Blog post)

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