How to Unplug from Work While on Vacation — With the digital age we live in, telecommuting is becoming pretty mainstream. You can grab a laptop and work from virtually anywhere that has a wifi signal.
At the water park with your kids? Yep. Sipping tea at a coffee shop. Of course. While vacationing with your family after promising to unplug? This happens WAY too often!
My husband is THE WORST at this and without a doubt it’s my biggest pet peeve when traveling with him. But because you can reach out and touch a phone/laptop/iPad pretty much at any given moment, it’s not surprising. It’s hard to disconnect when we live in such a connected world.
But unplugging is essential for your sanity. That’s why it’s so important for me to unplug when we take vacations. When you are pulled between two worlds, you miss so much of what a vacation provides. That stress relief that comes from unplugging and getting away vanishes.
Here are 6 ways on how to unplug from work while on vacation. You know, so you can leave work at work when you are trying to disconnect, reset and recharge while on vacation {I’m going to make the HH read and reread this before we jet off on our next adventure!}.
Leave your devices behind
This option is most ideal, but not always practical. I can’t travel without a phone, but if you can get away with leaving your iPad or laptop at home, go for it. Some jobs require you still be reachable and other jobs require you to be on call even when on vacation, so this one is a tough one.
But if you are REQUIRED to be reachable at all times, DON’T BE! Even if you have to bring a laptop or phone with you, consider leaving it in the hotel room when you head out for the day. This allows you to work on the plane ride to your destination, but stops the work once you get there.
Set realistic expectations
Meet with your boss or your team/co-workers before you head out. Talk through expectations on your vacation. Ask if you can completely unplug. Set firm rules. They need to know that your focus is your family or that your goal is to disconnect and recharge.
Let them know that you won’t waiver on those rules. Set up a chain of command in your absence, so if there is an emergency, their first instinct isn’t to call and interrupt your vacation. Also, communicate details on when you’ll return and how you’ll hit the ground running when you come back. Then everyone is on the same page!
Set up your out-of-office responses
Make sure you do this on all forms of communication like email, voicemail, Zoom. Make sure the message includes the earliest date you will be available to get back to them and who they can contact in the meantime, so they aren’t left hanging.
Have set office hours
If completely unplugging is impossible, let your spouse, your boss, etc. know that you will only be available and “in the office” for a certain set time a day. Maybe it’s one hour before you head out for the day, or it’s at night when you’ve returned to your hotel room.
Never make it during the day if you can avoid it, or you’ll be distracted for most of the day.
Plan around the work
It makes no sense to take a vacation during your busy season. You’ll be a stressed out mess and might actually be putting your job in jeopardy. Be sure to schedule your vacations with work in mind or during slower periods in your company calendar.
Give yourself a pep talk
Sometimes it’s not the work or the boss that’s preventing you from unplugging, it’s YOU! If work is your life or you care about it so much {or both}, it’s so very hard to leave it for awhile or leave someone else in charge of your responsibilities.
But it is not only good for your mental health, it’s good for your physical health, too. Vacations are good for the soul and the blood pressure, so you are doing your body a favor by letting go for a bit. Let yourself relax. The work will always be there to return to.
So those are my tips for how to unplug from work while on vacation, What are some of yours? Do you have a spouse or family member that can’t seem to disconnect when you travel? How do you handle it?
~Mavis
Elle says
I refused to be reachable when on vacation and told my bosses as much. “If I die on vacation, I’m not coming back so why would I give up true relaxation if I died on my way to work upon my return?” I was never fired for it. True Leaders develop teams that can handle anything that comes up. Just ask around and someone on my team will know.
We are all replaceable and acting as if we’re not is ridiculous.
Kath says
Well said!
Lynne says
This is not about unplugging while away, which you’ve covered really well, but about making the return to the office from vacation less stressful. A corporate lawyer friend shared some advice with me back in the stone age (pre devices and constant connectivity). She tended to take longer vacations in out-of-the-way places, where even telephone contact, a fax or a FedEx package would be a challenge. She always made her announced first day back be on a Monday, but she actually got back in town toward the end of the prior week. She would often go into the office on Thursday or Friday to check out what was on her desk awaiting her return. She could organize and prioritize what had to happen that first day, and might even take a few things home with her to work on in advance. Most of my career was spent in the “connected” era, but I always tried to take a day or two at the end of a vacation to get home, do the wash, clean up and organize what I needed to do on the first day back at work. I found it helped make that first day back at the office less jarring.
Linda Sand says
My husband was on call for a week while we were on vacation in Hawaii! That experience became part of the decision to retire.
Lana says
Yup! We don’t have Internet at our vacation house or TV so we gat a real break!