By Vanessa Renee
job, jobs, career
While vacation is supposed to be a time to get away from work, decompress, and reconnect with family and friends, more and more professionals are spending their vacation preparation time making sure that they will be fully connected to work while they're gone through their blackberries, cell phones, laptops, iPads, and programs such as LogMeIn or GoToMyPC. While these technologies have certainly made workers more accessible in positive ways, it is important for your mental health to get away from time to time.
Why are we using our precious vacation time to travel to an interesting location, and then work the whole time we are there? Even if you promise you're just going to check in "a couple times," it is highly likely that you will not get the same feeling of relaxation as you would if you had left your work at the office.
Try this. When you go on vacation, relax. Do not worry about work. Enjoy time with family, friends, or quiet time alone. Use the time to replenish your mind and spirit, so you can return to work re-energized and at the top of your productivity. Try these three things next time you are on vacation:
- Quit answering your cell phone. Especially if you have a separate cell phone for work, just turn it off. If your cell does double duty for both your work and personal life, send an e-mail out to your coworkers letting them know that they can leave a message for you on your desk phone while you are out.
Sure, there may be a coworker who did not plan appropriately for your absence and has now decided to start working on a project where he urgently needs information from you. Don't be tempted to help out for just a minute... you will get sucked in and spend your valuable vacation time working because of someone else's bad planning. Just don't answer that phone.
- Leave your computer at home. If you want to enjoy a vacation away from work, there are 2 reasons you should not even think about taking your laptop with you.
The first reason you should leave your computer at home is that every time you walk past it, it will remind you of your job and all the work that you didn't finish before you left, or all the work that is piling up while you are away.
The second reason is that the temptation will likely be too great, and you will wind up connecting to the office and doing work when you should be reconnecting with your spouse, children, or friends. You could miss some of the most spectacular vacation moments because you are staring at a computer monitor. You WILL survive for a few days without the internet, email, and Microsoft office. I've done it myself, and lived to tell the tale.
- Break away from the old routine. If you've been catching the advice I've been throwing at you, this step should be a breeze. You have turned off your cell phone, left your laptop at home, and are ready for the vacation of a lifetime. Now, relax. Even if you can't travel to paradise, picture yourself on a secluded stretch of beach with a Mexican beer in your hand. Not a distraction in the world except the sound of the waves crashing on the beach. Get the picture?
Another way to stay away from the old routine and make your vacation memorable is to try something new. Take a cooking class, go hiking, sleep under the stars, get SCUBA certified, go on a dinner cruise, see a play, whatever! Just do something you've never done before! It's a great way to relax, broaden your horizons, and focus your attention on things other than work.
With the high level of connectivity that we can now have from just about anywhere on the globe, it becomes increasingly important for you to make an effort to get away from the hustle and bustle of the office when you go on vacation. Try following these tips, and in no time, you will have forgotten about work and be enjoying every minute of your vacation. And when you return to work, you will be that much more productive!
While vacation is supposed to be a time to get away from work, decompress, and reconnect with family and friends, more and more professionals are spending their vacation preparation time making sure that they will be fully connected to work while they're gone through their blackberries, cell phones, laptops, iPads, and programs such as LogMeIn or GoToMyPC. While these technologies have certainly made workers more accessible in positive ways, it is important for your mental health to get away from time to time.
Why are we using our precious vacation time to travel to an interesting location, and then work the whole time we are there? Even if you promise you're just going to check in "a couple times," it is highly likely that you will not get the same feeling of relaxation as you would if you had left your work at the office.
Try this. When you go on vacation, relax. Do not worry about work. Enjoy time with family, friends, or quiet time alone. Use the time to replenish your mind and spirit, so you can return to work re-energized and at the top of your productivity. Try these three things next time you are on vacation:
- Quit answering your cell phone. Especially if you have a separate cell phone for work, just turn it off. If your cell does double duty for both your work and personal life, send an e-mail out to your coworkers letting them know that they can leave a message for you on your desk phone while you are out.
Sure, there may be a coworker who did not plan appropriately for your absence and has now decided to start working on a project where he urgently needs information from you. Don't be tempted to help out for just a minute... you will get sucked in and spend your valuable vacation time working because of someone else's bad planning. Just don't answer that phone.
- Leave your computer at home. If you want to enjoy a vacation away from work, there are 2 reasons you should not even think about taking your laptop with you.
The first reason you should leave your computer at home is that every time you walk past it, it will remind you of your job and all the work that you didn't finish before you left, or all the work that is piling up while you are away.
The second reason is that the temptation will likely be too great, and you will wind up connecting to the office and doing work when you should be reconnecting with your spouse, children, or friends. You could miss some of the most spectacular vacation moments because you are staring at a computer monitor. You WILL survive for a few days without the internet, email, and Microsoft office. I've done it myself, and lived to tell the tale.
- Break away from the old routine. If you've been catching the advice I've been throwing at you, this step should be a breeze. You have turned off your cell phone, left your laptop at home, and are ready for the vacation of a lifetime. Now, relax. Even if you can't travel to paradise, picture yourself on a secluded stretch of beach with a Mexican beer in your hand. Not a distraction in the world except the sound of the waves crashing on the beach. Get the picture?
Another way to stay away from the old routine and make your vacation memorable is to try something new. Take a cooking class, go hiking, sleep under the stars, get SCUBA certified, go on a dinner cruise, see a play, whatever! Just do something you've never done before! It's a great way to relax, broaden your horizons, and focus your attention on things other than work.
With the high level of connectivity that we can now have from just about anywhere on the globe, it becomes increasingly important for you to make an effort to get away from the hustle and bustle of the office when you go on vacation. Try following these tips, and in no time, you will have forgotten about work and be enjoying every minute of your vacation. And when you return to work, you will be that much more productive!
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