Leave your laptop at home this summer!
I love summer. I love hot weather, cookouts, baseball games, and trips to the beach. I am already counting down the days until my family—my parents, my four siblings, their spouses, and nine nieces and nephews—get together for our annual summer vacation on the Jersey Shore.
And while all of the adults in this group notified our employers about this vacation well in advance, there’s no doubt that, along with bathing suits and boogie boards, each of us will be packing a laptop or a tablet, and of course our smartphones—all of which will allow us to conveniently check work emails, work on a client project, or correspond with colleagues, just like we’re at work. But we aren’t at work, we’re on vacation.
There’s a familiar theory that employees who take regularly scheduled vacations from work experience increased happiness, improved mental and physical health, a more positive attitude toward work, and higher productivity and performance. But if we’re busy checking emails during vacation, even just a couple of times a day, we aren’t really reaping the benefits of the vacation, not to mention that it can also be draining on our family and friends. Kind of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?
And it looks like this is a growing problem. In a 2012 survey by Team Viewer, 52 percent of Americans said they expected to work while on vacation. In 2013, this number rose to 61 percent. A similar 2014 TripAdvisor poll found that 77 percent of Americans reported working while on vacation that year.
Have we forgotten how to take a vacation? I think so. The advancements and conveniences of technology have produced a double-edged sword that is quickly cutting away at the already thin line between an employee’s work time and personal time, creating an expectation that the employee will always be available, nights, weekends—and, yes, now even on vacations.
While some companies do have mandatory “no work vacation” policies, many employees are still left to their own devices when planning time out of the office. Some find it easier and less stressful to just take the work with them.
So until your company implements a policy requiring you to leave the laptop at home, Careercast has a few ideas on how to “unplug” on your next vacation:
Communicate – As soon as you plan your vacation, get it on the calendar and inform your supervisor, colleagues, and even clients, who will be happy to be informed in advance.
Coordinate – Work with your supervisor to select a designated backup who you are both confident in to handle your clients. Be prepared to give your supervisor and backup a detailed account of all your projects and work commitments a couple of days before you leave. This way, if they have any questions, they can contact you before your vacation instead of after you’ve left. Once it gets closer to your vacation, contact your major clients personally, introducing them to your backup.
Contact – Let your backup know how you can be reached on vacation, but ask that you be contacted only in emergency cases. Discuss what constitutes an emergency.
Out of Office – Leave a detailed “out of office” message, including the exact dates you will be away and when you will return. Note that you will not be checking messages and include the name, number, and work hours of the person who will be covering for you while you are out.
Check in – If you must check in during vacation, pick one short, designated time each day that doesn’t disrupt time with your family or friends. For example, get up an hour early and devote that time to checking emails and answering any work-related questions. Then, after the hour—no matter what—put your work away for the rest of the day. No excuses!
Relax – Trust that you did a great job designating your work to a colleague with a similar work ethic, that you left thorough notes and instructions, and that your clients and projects will be well taken care of!
Tara Madison is the Resource Manager at EEI Communications. To read more about Tara, click here.
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