It seems I have to work excessive hours to leave on vacation, only to return to a mountain of tasks. I have joked with colleagues about whether or not it is worth the effort to go on vacation, knowing I might kill someone if I didn’t take a break. Every time I am out of work for more than a day I wonder how to make this easier, or at least less painful. While I still have a long way to go, a few things have made a positive difference in my return to work. Here they are, and maybe you have a few to add to the list.
- Use the tools in your email software to sort your inbox. While many of us now get our email on our smartphones, it isn’t really a break from work if you have to “deal” with your email throughout your vacation. I have found that the organizing function under tools in Outlook helps a lot. Based on criteria such as the sender and subject you can have your email software move new messages into folders. The messages in folders do not show up on my phone, but I can see them when I log into the computer. For me it helps get the newsletters, CDC updates, meeting notifications, and other non-urgent messages out of my inbox. It helps prioritize what I see to that which is most important.
- Create notifications that you are not available. Likely your desk phone and email have the ability to put an out-of-office message. I have found that the number of messages left in my absence drops dramatically if people know I am out and when I will be back. In both cases I leave an alternative contact so if something needs urgent attention the person has at least one resource.
- Keep your meetings light on the day before vacation and the day you return. This gives you a chance to get on top of the work, and get your head back in the game.
- Trust that your management team will take care of business. The absence of a leader can be a great time for managers to rise to the occasion, learn their limits, and appreciate what happens in your shoes everyday. Managers can gain significant confidence and self knowledge handling issues on their own. It grows them and the organization. Conveying your confidence before you leave assures them to step up and increases the likelihood you get to hear about a good resolution to a problem.
Vacations make me energetic and innovative in my work. The responsibilities do not stop when I am away from the office. Finding and using tools to organize and prioritize the work makes leaving and returning much easier. I would love to hear about your strategies for managing work when taking a vacation.