From Harvard Business Review · Elizabeth Grace Saunders · · 2m
Work on vacation without ruining it
A time management coach shares five pitfalls to avoid when you must work during time off.
In brief
A time management coach shares five pitfalls to avoid when you must work during time off. When you cannot fully unplug on vacation, pre-planning and clear boundaries help you stay productive and actually relax. Originally reported by Harvard Business Review.
The impossible choice
Lawyers prepping trials, investors closing deals, and sales executives closing quarters often cannot fully unplug during vacation. Balancing work and rest is hard but possible.
Pitfall one: silence
Not telling people you are away creates stress. Set an out-of-office message for travel days and any days you will not be online. This prevents people worrying you are ignoring them.
Pitfall two: emergency scanning
Compulsively checking your phone for work emergencies undermines downtime. Designate one person to field items and contact you only for true emergencies. Ask them to text or call, not email.
Pitfall three: fixed meetings
Committing to specific meeting times during vacation creates drama when plans change. A boat cruise runs late or family decides to go to the beach instead. Keep communication asynchronous when possible.
“A boat cruise you thought would be done by 2 PM might not dock until 2:45 PM.”
Pitfall four: non-urgent work
Answering random questions or helping with non-urgent items eats into relaxation time. Resist opening messages unrelated to your must-do items, or you will feel compelled to respond.
Pitfall five: undefined hours
Leaving work hours undefined makes vacation feel shorter than it is. Starting at ten thirty am and finishing at two pm feels like losing a whole day, even if you only worked three and a…
Set your schedule in advance
Determine work start and stop times before your trip for your own sake and your traveling companions. Frontload longer work stretches early, then taper down so you feel increasingly relaxed.
A sample schedule
On your first full day, work from noon to five pm, then dine out.For remaining days, review urgent matters from eight am to nine thirty am, then stay off until a quick check-in before dinner.
The key to unwinding
Knowing everything will be okay until you re-engage, and that you will be contacted if it is not, is essential to actually relaxing during a working vacation.
“A real key to unwinding is knowing that everything will be okay until you re-engage, and that if it's not, you'll be contacted about it.”
The outcome
Working during vacation is not ideal, but with pre-planning and avoiding common mistakes, you can get critical work done while enjoying refreshing time off.
What to remember
When you cannot fully unplug on vacation, pre-planning and clear boundaries help you stay productive and actually relax.
