Vacation - Disconnecting from Work
I’m going on vacation next week and I have to admit that I’m finding it difficult to leave the laptop at home. This is difficult for me for two reasons:
I love what I do and WANT to do the work
I know little fairies are not going to come and do it for me when I’m gone, and I don’t want to feel “behind” when I get back.
There is a spectrum of mixed emotions about unplugging and taking a REAL vacation from positive emotions like being passionate about your work and negative feelings such as
What will happen when I’m gone?
What will my coworker/boss think if I step away completely?
It’s too much work to prep to be away.
Something will blow up if I don’t stay connected!
OTHER people take their laptop/check email/answer their phone…
As managers and team members, you need to talk about it with your teams. And by “it” I’m talking both about who needs to cover what when your gone, and about the feelings you’re having if you’re having a tug of war in your mind about how connected to work you “should” be. You deserve a vacation free of work, and if you are burned out, it is even more essential to unplug.
Most workplaces do not have an official handbook on “connectedness” when you are out of office. It falls in the unwritten rules pile and becomes a part of the organizational culture, which can spiral in undesired directions if left unaddressed. If you are the person that is in the office while your colleague, boss, or employee is out, you may be thinking “well, if they WANT to connect, who am I to argue?” because let’s be honest, it probably makes your life easier. I have always encouraged people in my organization to disconnect and that there is no reason to feel guilty about taking time they have earned.
Perhaps you have seen the difference between European and American out of office notifications? The European one says “I’m away for the summer. Email again in September.” Where as the American out of office reads “I have left the office for two hours to undergo kidney surgery but you can reach me on my cell at any time.”
Here are my key talking points in having this conversation with those hesitant to unplug:
Like the certainty of death and taxes, the work will be here when you get back.
You will be more effective and efficient when you return, even if you have a pile of email to sort through.
On email: It’s okay if you do that on the day you return to the office as opposed to feeling like you need to be on top of things the moment you set foot in the office. It’s okay to block out time your calendar the day you get back to get caught up back up.
It’s an opportunity to practice letting go and allow other to help you. When you have a death grip and high ownership of your work, it can be difficult to make room for others. This is an opportunity to allow people to figure out how to do things. If you are mentoring people, it’s an incredible opportunity for them to find out what they do and don’t know and how resourceful they can be.
Have a plan. Taking time to discuss specific concerns about what’s going on while they are out of the office, what is delegated to whom, what is their authority in your absence, where is escalation appropriate.
How can we use your concerns to improve the process? With a background in quality, I have always told people that if your operation relies on individual acts of heroism, you don’t have a process. This is an opportunity to look at where systems, standardized practices, or additional training for a little redundancy (limiting single point failures, even if your backup is not as efficient) may serve the greater good for long term returns.
While there is no magic formula, I encourage you to have a conversation with your team about how best to create win-wins for both the vacation-er and the supporting team to create the space necessary to recharge and disconnect. In addition to the conversation, it is important to reinforce good disconnecting behaviors and ensuring there are not negative ramifications for taking the time for themselves. And be sure to be a good example.
